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Iron County Commission backs letter supporting Parowan Valley WMA expansion, asks DWR to include mitigation language in WMA plan
Summary
The commission approved a letter of support for the Division of Wildlife Resources’ proposed Parowan Valley Wildlife Management Area expansion, adding language that a visual barrier and “a combination of fencing and or other methods” be used to protect adjacent landowners and securing a commitment that the county’s requested language be placed in the WMA management plan.
The Iron County Commission voted to approve a letter of support for the Division of Wildlife Resources’ proposed land acquisition and expansion of the Parowan Valley Wildlife Management Area, asking that a visual barrier be installed to the east and south of the property and that DWR commit to “a combination of fencing and or other methods to protect adjacent landowners from encroachment.”
Commissioner motion and plan-language commitment mattered because several commissioners and staff emphasized that a letter alone is not contractually binding. An unidentified contracts staff member suggested using a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to preserve commitments in county records, but Speaker 3 said embedding the agreed language in the WMA management plan would be stronger: “I will commit that we will do that in in that plan because that signed by our our director, that becomes our marching orders at that point.” The commission agreed to include the agreed language in the motion and to request DWR include it in the upcoming revision of its management plan.
Supporters noted the long effort by DWR to reach a delisting-capable position and stressed mitigation, neighbor relations and the limits of county authority. Speaker 1 said the behind-the-scenes work to reach delisting readiness has involved a “huge amount of money” and time, and Speaker 3 cautioned the county cannot eliminate prairie dogs leaving the property but will try to mitigate and be good neighbors. Participants repeatedly praised staff at DWR and county staff for improved collaboration.
The motion was offered by Speaker 8 and seconded by Speaker 5; the commission voted in favor with aye votes recorded. The approved motion asked for the letter of support to include the visual barrier and the fencing/other-methods language and for DWR to take the discussed items into account in its WMA plan revision. No opposing votes were recorded in the meeting transcript.
Next steps: county and DWR staff will draft the final letter and the commission expects DWR to incorporate the agreed language into its WMA management plan revision. The motion and the minutes will serve as a record of the commission’s requested commitments.
