House passes wildlife-tagging changes, adds donation exception and lowers some penalties

Representative Goodfellow brought House Bill 23 back to the floor with sponsor amendments aimed at clarifying when a carcass must be tagged. An amendment offered by Representative Reber (as read) changed language to require that “the carcass of any species required to be tagged must be tagged before the carcass is moved from or the hunter leaves the side of the kill.”

Representative Johnson and others warned that removing the word 'possessive' could let professional poachers escape enforcement; Johnson described recent seizures of illegally taken bobcat hides and argued the statute should target commercial poachers while protecting ordinary hunters. Representative Goodfellow said the bill is intended to help enforcement and balance penalties, adding that “this will lower about 30% of all the penalties in the wildlife code from class B to class C misdemeanors.”

Representative Evans moved and the House adopted a separate amendment (pink sheet) to allow a person to donate a big-game hide to another person or organization without a donation slip, preserving common fundraisers (for example, Boy Scout fundraisers) and roadside donation drop-offs. The amendment was treated as friendly and the sponsor waived further summation.

Voting was quick: the Clerk reported HB23 as amended received 69 affirmative, no negative votes, and the bill was passed and referred to the Senate.

What comes next: HB23 advances to the Utah Senate for consideration; the House record shows the bill was amended on the floor to clarify tagging timing and to allow hide donations without a donation slip.