Salt Lake City — The Utah Wildlife Board approved a few updates to the mountain goat and bighorn sheep statewide management plans during the midplan review, as well as updates to population objectives for deer on three hunting units in southeastern Utah, and a few other items during a public meeting Thursday.
Updates to bighorn sheep and mountain goat statewide management plans
The Utah Mountain Goat Statewide Management Plan and the Utah Bighorn Sheep Statewide Management Plan are each 10-year plans that went into effect in 2018. Each plan is subject to review during that time frame. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources recently convened an advisory committee to review both plans and a few updates were proposed. The board approved a few updates to the plans during Thursday's meeting, including:
- Adding information about the process that occurs prior to a bighorn sheep transplant (regarding the public process and writing unit/mitigation plans)
- Adding information about involving public hunters in disease prevention and response incidents (while also prioritizing herd health and fair chase standards)
- Adding Fremont Island as a potential site for future Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep reintroduction
- Adding the Boulder hunting unit as a potential location for future desert bighorn sheep reintroduction
- Adding a few other clerical updates to documents and references
- Updating state code references in both plans to reflect recent legislative changes
"These plans are really important in guiding our objectives to maintain healthy mountain goat and bighorn sheep populations in Utah," DWR Once-in-a-Lifetime Species Coordinator Rusty Robinson said. "We really appreciate those who serve on the committees and provide input on these plans and the associated updates."
Deer unit plan updates
The board also approved a few updates to deer population objectives on three hunting units in southeastern Utah. Mule deer unit plans are revised on a five-year rotational schedule, incorporating data from the Utah Range Trend Monitoring Project and updates to the Utah Mule Deer Statewide Management Plan. The statewide plan directs that unit plans with minor updates are reviewed and approved by the DWR director. However, unit plans with significant changes, including changes to population objectives and/or unit boundaries, should be presented to the public through Regional Advisory Council meetings and then approved by the Utah Wildlife Board.
The board approved increases to population objectives for deer on the La Sal, La Sal Mountains unit; the Manti/San Rafael unit; and the San Juan, Abajos unit. These increases are due to changes in statewide modeling efforts, which have caused an increased shift in current population estimates and now exceed current population objectives. The changes to the unit plans include:
- Increasing the population objective on the La Sal, La Sal Mountains unit from 8,000 to 11,500
- Increasing the population objective on the Manti/San Rafael unit from 28,000 to 38,000
- Increasing the population objective on the San Juan, Abajos unit from 13,500 to 17,000
Conservation and expo permits
The Utah Conservation Permit Program was launched in 1980 in an effort to increase funding for conservation projects for fish and wildlife throughout Utah. Each year, the Utah Wildlife Board designates a small percentage of limited-entry and once-in-a-lifetime hunting permits as "conservation and expo permits." Since 2001, conservation permits have generated more than $88 million for conservation work in Utah.
The conservation permits are offered to conservation and sportsmen's groups, who then auction them at banquets, fundraisers and other events. The DWR and these conservation groups allocate 90% of the money raised from these permit sales toward conservation and research projects, including:
The remaining 10% of the proceeds may be retained by the conservation groups to help cover administrative costs. In 2025, 336 conservation permits were allocated (less than 2% of all permits). The 2025 conservation permits generated more than $8.7 million for wildlife conservation.
The expo permits are not auctioned, but rather, are offered once each year through a public drawing currently held at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo in Salt Lake City. Utahns and nonresidents who attend the expo can apply for the 200 limited-entry permits. There is a $5 application fee and part of that fee goes to the conservation groups hosting the expo to help pay for costs associated with hosting and running the permit drawing. The remaining portion of the application fee is used for conservation efforts, including habitat and restoration projects that benefit wildlife in Utah. In 2025, just over $2 million was generated through the expo permits for conservation projects and initiatives.
During Thursday's meeting, the wildlife board approved annual audits of the two programs, as well as the annual report for the Conservation Permit Program. Allocations for the 200 expo permits for the 2026 Western Hunting and Conservation Expo were also approved, with a change of one less archery elk permit on the Wasatch Mountains unit and one additional any-legal-weapon pronghorn permit on the Parker Mountain unit.
Board members also approved the 2026 dates for the board and Regional Advisory Council meetings.
You can watch the full meeting on the Utah Department of Natural Resources YouTube Channel.
