"You are successful." Those long-awaited words were so exciting to read last spring after 10 years of trying to draw a limited-entry buck deer permit in the Book Cliffs. I was in a group with my brother, Corey, and we were both going hunting!
One of the coolest things about the cutthroat trout conservation project was our extensive partnership. Everyone worked together toward a single, common goal: to conserve Utah's native trout. But we're not the only ones who are excited. Our project has thrilled anglers who love to catch native cutthroat trout in the Logan River drainage. To understand why they're so happy now, it helps to understand how far we've come.
It was going to be an exciting hunt — my first western big game hunt — but I also felt some pressure. This was one of our last opportunities to really fill the freezer this hunting season.
If you've ever visited or hunted in Utah's Zion country, there's a good chance you've seen a California condor. If so, you know the excitement of seeing one of the world's largest and most endangered birds.
We're launching a study that will tell us, in addition to fish sizes, population and overall health, how easy it is to catch a fish. And if you help us, there's a chance you'll catch more than a fish!
I have registered for and completed the Utah Cutthroat Slam three times, but I've completed it many more times over the past five years just for fun. And not a single one of those completions even compares to the three days this summer when my daughter tackled the slam.
Warm weather in the summer months can sometimes cause a harmful algal bloom at your favorite Utah waterbody. Just a few years ago, we rarely heard about these blooms. Now, there are advisories every year. What changed? And how do these blooms affect recreation and fishing?
It's another day on the water in the middle of nowhere, and it's perfect. The deep blue sky overhead, the swirling river against the boat's hull, and the shouts of excitement when we find another fish — they're all part of a larger quest. We've launched a new project to conserve the roundtail chub and hopefully prevent an endangered species listing.
As a relatively new conservation officer, I've encountered some wild fishing enforcement cases in the past couple of years. Here are a few that really stood out.