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Show The division is " appointed as the trustee and custodian of protected wildlife..." and, subject to the broad policy making authority of the Wildlife Board, the division's responsibilities are to, " protect, propagate, manage, conserve, and distribute protected wildlife throughout the state" ( Utah Code 23- 14- 1( 2)). The Wildlife Board's responsibility is to, "... establish the policies best designed to accomplish the purposes, and fulfill the intent of all laws pertaining to wildlife and the preservation, protection, conservation, perpetuation, introduction, and management of wildlife." The Wildlife Board relies on the division's determinations of fact, and on the recommendations of the Regional Advisory Councils ( RACs) established under Section 23- 14- 2.6 of the Utah Code. Under Utah law, five RACs conduct hearings to collect public input, gather information from division staff, the public and government agencies, and make recommendations to the Wildlife Board in an advisory capacity. On and near GSL, DWR's responsibilities include: research on and management of wildlife species, regulation of hunting, regulation of commercial brine shrimping, management of state WMAs, cooperative management of Antelope Island's large ungulates with DPR, cooperation with USFWS in the management and research of migrating birds and cooperation with non- governmental and other governmental agencies in the conservation of wildlife habitats. Great Salt Lake Waterfowl Management Areas There are eight DNR WMAs on GSL. Six are located along the shoreline of the lake, and include Farmington Bay, Howard Slough, Ogden Bay, Harold Crane, Locomotive Springs and Timpie Springs. ( See Figure 1.) The others are within 10 miles of the lake and have a direct association with the lake environs. Salt Creek WMA, Bear River Access and Willard Bay are examples. A total of 87,244 acres are intensively managed by DWR. Some acres are managed under cooperative agreements with other state and federal agencies, such as DFFSL and BLM. Utah Code Section 23- 21- 5 identifies approximately 150,000 additional acres in the lake area which are authorized for administration by DWR for hunting, fishing and wildlife management purposes. DWR is in the process of developing a habitat management plan for each management area. These plans describe each area, identify capital improvement needs and describe generalized management activities associated with identified goals and objectives. General management actions include wildlife habitat enhancement through water control, agricultural practices, population monitoring, law enforcement, education and information sharing to support and build an appreciation for wildlife, habitat, wetlands, wildlife management and conservation. WMAs can be affected by high lake water levels and have many common management issues and concerns. Important issues include securing future water supplies, access management, 84 |