Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Wildlife Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utah House narrowly approves bill letting wildlife agency shift start of deer season, 38-35
Summary
After extended floor debate in the Utah House, members passed First Substitute Senate Bill 59 to let the Division of Wildlife Resources move the start of the general rifle deer season to as early as Oct. 1 in some areas; supporters cited herd management, while ranchers warned of conflicts with cattle operations and school schedules.
The Utah House of Representatives passed First Substitute Senate Bill 59 on a close 38–35 vote after more than an hour of debate over whether the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) should be allowed flexibility to change the start date of the statewide general rifle deer season.
Representative Alan Sandstrom, the bill’s sponsor, told colleagues the measure does not remove public input and that the Wildlife Board and its regional advisory councils will still solicit comment. “There are well over 100,000 active dedicated hunters in this state that are good stewards of the land,” Sandstrom said, arguing the bill would give wildlife managers tools to respond where deer herds are declining.
Opponents, many representing rural and ranching districts, said the change could create practical problems for livestock operators who move cattle in the fall and for families and school districts that schedule fall recesses around a fixed hunting weekend. Representative Matthews said, “In the fall, there are certain dates that our cattle have to be moved off those public lands,” and warned that shifting season dates could complicate those operations. Others raised concerns about commercial guides’ ability to plan bookings and the risk of overlapping seasons.
Supporters countered that DWR would not arbitrarily change dates and that the agency already manages seasons with regional variation. The sponsor said the authority would help preserve declining deer herds by enabling managers to adjust timing for biological reasons such as rut timing and severe winter mortality.
The floor included procedural interruptions — a “call of the House” while members were located, a temporary freeze of the electronic vote, and a successful motion to close debate — before the close tally was recorded. The House recorded the 38–35 passage; the bill will be signed by the speaker and returned to the Senate for the president’s signature.
Next steps: The bill heads back to the Senate for the president’s signature and, if signed, will allow the DWR to set earlier local start dates for the general deer season subject to the Wildlife Board’s established public-proclamation process.
