Summary: Under the Utah Wolf Management Act, wolves must be managed so as to prevent the establishment of a viable pack anywhere in the state where the wolf is not listed as threatened or endangered until the wolf is delisted. If a wolf is discovered in an area where wolves are listed as threatened or endangered, the division must request its immediate removal from the state by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Part 1. General Provisions
§ 23-29-101 . Title
§ 23-29-102 . Definitions
§ 23-29-103 . Legislative findings and declarations
Part 2. Wolf Management
§ 23-29-201 . Wolf management
§ 23-29-202 . Rulemaking
Part 1. General Provisions
This chapter is known as the “Wolf Management Act.”
CREDIT(S)
Laws 2010, c. 20, § 1, eff. May 11, 2010.
As used in this chapter:
(1) “Service” means the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
(2) “Wolf” means the species Canis lupus.
CREDIT(S)
Laws 2010, c. 20, § 2, eff. May 11, 2010.
§ 23-29-103. Legislative findings and declarations
(1) Section 23-14-1 appoints the division as trustee and custodian of protected wildlife in the state.
(2) The wolf is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act throughout the greater portion of the state.
(3) The service is the federal agency charged with responsibility to administer the Endangered Species Act.
(4) The service acknowledges that Utah is not critical to the recovery of wolves and that it does not intend to actively recover wolves in the state.
(5) The division prepared a wolf management plan outlining its management objectives for the wolf in Utah when the wolf was delisted and removed from federal control.
(6) The wolf management plan prepared by the division was formally submitted to the service in 2007 for approval.
(7) The service has neither approved, denied, nor otherwise commented on the plan since receiving it in 2007.
(8) The state formally requested, in writing on multiple occasions, that the service delist the wolf throughout Utah, and the service has failed to acknowledge or otherwise respond to any of the requests.
(9) The state cannot adequately or effectively manage wolves on a pack level in the small area of the state where the species is currently delisted without significantly harming other vital state interests, including livestock and big game populations.
(10) It is the policy of the state to legally advocate and facilitate the delisting of wolves in Utah under the Endangered Species Act and to return wolf management authority to the state.
CREDIT(S)
Laws 2010, c. 20, § 3, eff. May 11, 2010.
Part 2. Wolf Management
(1) The division shall contact the service upon discovering a wolf in any area of the state where wolves are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act and request immediate removal of the animal from the state.
(2) The division shall manage wolves to prevent the establishment of a viable pack in all areas of the state where the wolf is not listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act until the wolf is completely delisted under the act and removed from federal control in the entire state.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to wolves lawfully held in captivity and restrained.
CREDIT(S)
Laws 2010, c. 20, § 4, eff. May 11, 2010.
The division may make administrative rules in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, to manage the wolf in accordance with this chapter.
CREDIT(S)
Laws 2010, c. 20, § 5, eff. May 11, 2010.