Council renews CWMU registrations and asks Division to make trade‑land maps more visible

The council approved a slate of three‑year CWMU certificate renewals and added guidance asking the Division to make trade‑land boundaries more accessible to the public.

Darren (Division staff) explained the policy: while Division policy generally avoids including accessible public lands inside a CWMU hunt boundary, there are limited circumstances the Division allows inclusion (landlocked parcels without public access; use of roads/fences to create a definable boundary; or rare management objectives that require including public ground). When public land is included, CWMU operators must provide compensation to the public — commonly an additional permit or comparable walk‑in access to private land (“trade land”). Those trade lands must be posted and maps published on the Division website.

Several council members and members of the public urged better map access. A council motion asked habitat staff to work with map providers (including OnX) to ensure CWMU boundaries and trade lands are available as a map layer; the motion passed unanimously.

Why it matters: CWMUs are an important private‑land partnership that can expand managed hunt opportunity, but public confusion arises when accessible public land appears inside private hunt boundaries. The Division emphasized trade‑land posting, published maps and advisory‑committee review of boundary requests.

What happens next: The Division will continue to process renewals and post revised maps and will explore map‑layer partnerships so hunters can easily view trade‑land boundaries on common mapping apps.