The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources asked the Iron County Commission this morning to support a planned purchase of a 20-acre parcel adjacent to the Parowan Wildlife Management Area near Parowan.

Commissioners and nearby landowners repeatedly pressed DWR staff to include stronger management promises in any county support letter, saying recent prairie-dog expansion has damaged adjacent farms and that temporary fencing and inconsistent management have not prevented crop losses.

"This is a 20 acre parcel, and it's adjacent to 1 of our existing wildlife management areas," DWR land staff said, noting the parcel contains a large Utah prairie dog colony. The agency described the species as federally threatened and said acquiring contiguous habitat supports the Utah prairie dog recovery plan, originally approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1991 and revised in 2012.

Local farmers and residents told the commission the prairie-dog colonies had recently expanded onto private agricultural land east and south of the proposed acquisition, causing documented damage to corn and alfalfa. One audience speaker asked that the county insist the state re-establish the prior "zero baseline" survey on the new boundary line and put permanent, prairie-dog–proof fencing in place along the eastern boundary.

Commissioners said the county's letter of support should require measurable management actions: better fencing (buried and chain-link style was suggested), a requirement that DWR pay mitigation and removal costs for prairie dogs that invade private farmland, and a defined baseline survey that treats the new parcel as part of the non-occupied buffer so adjacent producers retain the right to have animals removed if the state fails to control them.

DWR staff said regional staff would be brought into follow-up meetings and that the agency was open to adjusting the proposed support letter; DWR also asked the commission to note the acquisition would improve habitat connectivity and support species that rely on prairie-dog colonies, including burrowing owls and predators.

The commission asked county staff to draft stronger language and invited DWR regional staff to return to a future meeting; DWR said it hopes to close on the parcel in December and requested any county input within November.

Why it matters: Commissioners framed the issue as one of competing and overlapping interests—species recovery and publicly owned habitat versus immediate private agricultural losses—asking for enforceable and audited commitments from the state rather than only assurances.

What’s next: County staff said they will draft revised language for a support letter and bring DWR regional staff to a future meeting so commissioners can consider specific conditions before the county signs a final letter of support.