During a public meeting Thursday, the Utah Wildlife Board approved some additional permits for several Cooperative Wildlife Management Units in northern Utah in order to address over-objective elk populations in those areas.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources oversees the Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit Program, which allocates hunting permits to private landowners who then provide hunting opportunities to public and private hunters for a variety of wildlife species. The CWMU Program in Utah has opened more than 2 million acres of private land to the public for hunting.

In June, the Utah Wildlife Board approved additional management tools that can be used on CWMUs to address over-objective elk populations.

These tools include:

• Authorizing an additional antlerless elk permit for hunters with antlered and antlerless permits on the unit
• Calling for a depredation hunt
• Issuing private vouchers that are not for profit
• Adding an emergency hunt at the end of the year
• Having a harvest objective set by the DWR
• Requiring a unit-wide plan to be presented before the CWMU Advisory Committee

There are currently several CWMUs in northern Utah that have elk populations that are over the population objectives. That can lead to long-term habitat damage from overgrazing and also creates too much competition among wildlife for limited food sources, leading to impacts to the struggling deer populations in the area.

During Thursday’s meeting, the Utah Wildlife Board approved the implementation of the previously approved tool to allow hunters with a CWMU big game permit to buy an additional antlerless elk permit on the following CWMUs during the hunts this fall:

• Deseret CWMU
• Ensign Ranches CWMU (only hunters with an antlerless permit will be able to purchase an additional antlerless elk permit)
• East Fork Chalk Creek
• Grass Valley/Clark Canyon
• Weber Florence Creek/Stillman Creek

The board also approved the DWR setting a harvest objective of 300 elk on the Deseret CWMU.

You can watch the full board meeting on the Utah Department of Natural Resources YouTube Channel.