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RAC rejects DWR proposal to ban lethal snares on public land; asks for stakeholder committee
Summary
After hours of testimony from livestock producers, houndsmen, trappers and conservationists, the RAC voted 11–1 to reject the division's recommendation to prohibit lethal snare sets for mountain lions on public land and directed DWR to convene a balanced stakeholder committee to seek workable regulations.
The Northern Regional Advisory Council refused to adopt the Division of Wildlife Resources'(DWR) recommendation to prohibit lethal snare sets for mountain lions on public land and asked the division to convene a stakeholder committee to seek mutually acceptable regulations.
DWR presented the recommendation after a three‑year review tied to House Bill 469 and the division's pledge to reassess methods used to harvest cougars. Division staff said lethal sets accounted for a small portion of cougar harvest in recent years (DWR cited roughly 1% of cougar take coming from lethal sets), and that restricting lethal snares on public land would reduce risk to pets, hunting hounds and non‑target wildlife.
The public record was heavily contested. Producer and houndsman speakers described long experience using snares and foothold traps, warned that removing lethal options would reduce their tools to address depredation and harm livelihoods, and said most experienced trappers avoid incidental takes. Speaking for producers, Casey Earl said "we suffer monumental lion losses every year" and urged the RAC to retain snares. The Utah Trappers Association and Houndsmen's representatives argued for training, better reporting and localized restrictions rather than a statewide ban.
Conservation groups and some neighborhood speakers urged restrictions to prevent pets and hounds from being injured. Taylor Turner of Utah Mountain Lion Conservation told the RAC that snares remove the selective ability available to hound hunters and are therefore inappropriate for lions.
RAC members weighed competing concerns: the division's low reported lethal‑snare contribution to overall cougar harvest, the difficulty of enforcement, the geography of high‑use recreational corridors (where snares near trails present higher risks), and the livelihoods of producers. Several RAC members said targeted rules, spatial restrictions (e.g., high‑use trails), mandatory trapper training, unique trapper IDs on sets, and better reporting could reduce risk without eliminating snares as a tool.
The RAC motion (11–1) instructed DWR to reject the proposed statewide ban and to convene a committee of stakeholders (including the Utah Trappers Association, Houndsmen's organizations, producer representatives, conservation groups and DWR staff) charged with developing regulation options that address public‑land safety and depredation needs. DWR and some RAC members said the division will follow up with a process and timeline for the committee.
RAC vote: motion to reject the division's proposal and form a stakeholder committee passed 11–1.
Next steps: DWR will form the committee and return to the RAC with proposed regulatory language or spatial/seasonal restrictions born from stakeholder work. The RAC asked for greater data transparency on incident reporting and permit counts to inform the committee's work.
