On Thursday, April 30, the Utah Wildlife Board is holding a critical meeting to make final decisions on several high-stakes proposals that directly affect your time in the field.
If we aren’t at the table, we’re on the menu. Anti-hunting groups often use these meetings to push for reduced opportunity. We need the “Sportsman’s Voice” to be the loudest in the room, keeping management grounded in science, not politics.
Issues on the Agenda:
- 2026 Big Game Permit Numbers: The Board will vote on the final number of permits for deer, elk, and other big game species. This includes recommendations for a slight decrease in limited-entry bull elk permits and an increase in antlerless elk permits to meet management goals.
- CWMU Rule Amendments: Discussions will include changes to Cooperative Wildlife Management Units (CWMU) rules and management plans, which affect how private lands are integrated into Utah’s hunting system.
- Landowner Association (LOA) Plans: New management plans for LOAs will be reviewed, influencing hunter access and permit allocation on private property.
- Electronic Tagging: Continued discussions regarding the transition to electronic tagging for harvested animals, a move intended to modernize tracking but one that requires sportsman oversight to ensure it remains user-friendly.
Meeting Details
- Date & Time: April 30, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.
- Location: Eccles Wildlife Education Center, 1157 South Waterfowl Way, Farmington, UT
- Livestream: For those who cannot attend in person, the meeting will be available online.
Protecting the Sportsman’s Voice
It is important for sportsmen to show up in person or online! It sends a powerful message to the Board that Utah’s sportsmen are engaged and watching. When we are outnumbered at these meetings, radical anti-hunting elements often fill the void. Let’s ensure the “Sportsman’s Voice” is the loudest one in the room.
There has never been a more crucial time in sportsmen’s history than now to be involved and engaged in protecting our way of life. Share this email with your family and friends. Urge them to join the fight with you and the Sportsmen’s Alliance. The legacy of hunting, fishing, and trapping depends on our actions today.
The Sportsmen’s Alliance guarantees hunting, fishing and trapping for the American sportsman now and forever. We’re there when sportsmen need us most. We are the only organization specifically created to protect the individual hunter, angler and trapper – no matter the threat. We will never compromise when it comes to defending our way of life in the courts, in the legislatures, in the public square and at the ballot box. We make this promise to the American sportsman: we will never give up and never give in while proudly securing our future against those seeking to destroy our values, beliefs, and traditions. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
