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House approves consolidation of two wildlife boards, sponsors say step aims to reduce board conflict
Summary
House passed HB 250 to consolidate the state's wildlife boards into a single board advised by statutory regional advisory councils; sponsor argued consolidation reduces polarizing appointments and has endorsements across traditionally opposed groups. The bill passed 66–5 and moves to the Senate.
Representative Steven M. Bodley introduced House Bill 2 50, describing it as "one of the most significant bills we'll deal with as far as wildlife policy is concerned." He traced the bill to a task force created to examine wildlife management and said the measure implements the task force recommendation to merge the Board of Big Game Control and the Wildlife Board into a single, statutory wildlife board advised by regional advisory councils.
The sponsor described a multilayer nominating process: local interests would recommend names into a nominating pool, an 11-member nominating committee would select a secondary pool, and the governor would appoint seven members from that latter pool. Bodley said the bill specifies desired background in range and aquatic habitat, business and private land ownership, and that the regional advisory councils would be statutorily recognized and eligible for mileage reimbursement when they travel.
Representative Goodfellow pressed the sponsor over geographic representation, noting the statutory formula could mean "no representative from a region" such as parts of the Wasatch Front or Salt Lake County. The sponsor responded that the intention was to avoid rigid quotas that would exclude qualified appointees and emphasized the rare coalition of endorsements on the bill, saying "we have the endorsement of the Cattlemen's Association, the Wool Growers, and the Sierra Club, and the Audubon Society." He called the coalition "somewhat fragile" but urged support.
After debate and a failed attempt to cut off debate earlier in the discussion, the House voted. The clerk reported HB 250 received 66 yes votes and 5 no votes; the bill passed and will be forwarded to the Senate.
