Habitat Council advances dozens of WMA maintenance projects and opens multiyear funding talks for major irrigation upgrade
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Summary
At a daylong Habitat Council meeting, staff reviewed the handbook, budgets and dozens of Wildlife Management Area projects statewide. The council approved multiple maintenance requests and asked partners to help fund a multi‑phase Gordon Creek irrigation overhaul.
The Wildlife Habitat Council met on Jan. 28 to review its handbook, hear updates on Wildlife Management Area management plans and vote to advance several maintenance and restoration projects across Utah.
Daniel Eddington, the division’s habitat assistant section chief, walked members through the Habitat Council handbook, explaining that the program is primarily financed from hunting and fishing license sales and that the council generally oversees roughly $3.4 million a year to support habitat work. "This is just kind of the handbook for the council," Eddington said, describing the fund's role in restoration, acquisition and cooperative agreements across regions.
Members received a database tutorial and a briefing on the council's process: projects will receive an initial vote at this meeting to determine whether they meet the council’s sideboards and, if approved, will be taken to an April budget meeting for final funding decisions.
Presentations spanned regional proposals and management-plan updates. Tom Platero, impact analysis biologist in the Northeastern Region, presented the Kevin Conway WMA plan and recent work to remove invasive Russian olive. "About 3 and a half acres of Russian olive was removed, primarily younger Russian olive…about 230 trees," Platero said, describing treatment with cut stump application of triclopyr and future pond prospects complicated by water-rights issues.
Northeast and Southern region managers emphasized routine maintenance needs—fencing replacement, guzzler upkeep, irrigation repairs and weed control—saying many projects are driven by heavy use and aging infrastructure. Pat Rainbolt, Northeast Region habitat manager, described maintenance priorities including repairs to guzzlers and road access and said the region is managing some 29 WMAs on roughly 200,000 acres.
Council members approved multiple maintenance and project requests on the spot, including region maintenance packages and discrete WMA projects (motions recorded during the meeting). Several items will return for final budget allocations in April.
A central debate focused on a capital proposal for Gordon Creek WMA in the Southeast Region. Habitat Manager TJ Cook said redesigning the diversion and pipeline to restore reliable irrigation would cost about $855,000 for an initial phase and an estimated $2.5 million for the full buildout. The council did not fully fund the package but approved moving a phased proposal forward and asked staff to secure strong commitments from sportsmen’s groups and other partners to cover the bulk of the cost. "When the rubber meets the road, this is what stuff costs," one member said in a discussion that led to an amended motion asking for strong external contributions before the council funds its share.
Other actions included approvals to advance fence upgrades at multiple WMAs (including Matt Warner and Tabby Mountain), a Cook WMA phase‑2 request tied to a recent donation, and several smaller restoration and irrigation projects. Lands staff also requested due‑diligence funds to cover title, survey and appraisal costs for recent and pending acquisitions such as East Canyon and Cinnamon Creek.
The council set the next meeting for Feb. 5 (waterfowl meeting) and scheduled the April budget meeting for final funding decisions. The council adjourned after recognizing outgoing members and thanking staff and volunteers for fieldwork and project implementation.
What’s next: council members will review project pages in the WRI database, staff will pursue partner commitments for large capital proposals, and April’s budget meeting will finalize which projects receive funding.
