2009 Utah bear permits

[Emily]

Thursday, 18 December 2008
2009 Black bear permits
Daily Herald

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/292808/140/

SPRINGVILLE-- Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is recommending that a total of 316hunting permits be available for Utah's 2009 spring and fall seasons. In 2008, a total of 299 permits were available.
Based on an average success rate of 41 percent, the extra 17 permits should result in about seven more bears being taken next year. In 2008, hunters took a total of 126 bears. All DWR black bear proposals are available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/public_meetings. Once hunters have read the proposals, they can share their thoughts and ideas one of two ways:

At Regional Advisory Council (RAC) meetings. Five RAC meetings will be held across Utah.

Citizens representing the RACs will take the input received at the meetings to the Utah Wildlife Board. Board members will use the input when they meet in Salt Lake City on Jan. 8 to approve rules for Utah's 2009 black bear hunts.

Hunters can also provide comments to the RAC via e-mail. E-mail addresses for RAC members are available at "www.wildlife.utah.gov/public meetings.

The group each RAC member represents (sportsman, non-consumptive, etc.) is listed under each person's e-mail address. Direct e-mails to the people on the RAC who represent a particular interest.

Utah's bears are hunted in the spring and the fall. All additional permits DWR is recommending would be for the spring hunt.

"In the spring, bears kill a lot of livestock, especially sheep," said Justin Dolling, mammals program coordinator for DWR. "Federal officers end up killing many of these bears," he said. "We'd like to give hunters a chance to help by allowing more hunters to take bears that might get into trouble."

There's another positive to hunting bears in the spring; fewer female bears are taken. "Female bears usually come out of their dens later in the spring than the males do," Dolling said. "During most of the spring hunt, most of the females are still in their dens."

Dolling said when female bears do come out of their dens, many of them have cubs with them. "Having the cubs right there with their moms helps hunters know they've found a female bear," he said.

To give hunters a better chance to take bears that cause problems in the spring, DWR is recommending that the spring season be extended one week on units where most of the instances of bears killing livestock occur.

Black bear plan

In 1999, DWR put a discussion group together to draft the state's first black bear management plan. Membership on the diverse 12-member group ranged from people opposed to bear hunting to ranchers and hunters.

"The plan set certain safeguards or performance targets to protect Utah's bear population," Dolling said. "For example, one of the performance targets says that not more than 40 percent of the bears

taken each year can be females. "The performance targets have been met every year since 1999,"

Dolling said. "That tells us Utah's black bear populations are doing well and that it's safe to offer a few more permits."

View the black bear management plan at www.wildlife.utah.gov/bear/pdf/00bearplan.pdf.