Speak up about wolves in Utah

One of the final chances to comment on a plan that will guide how wolves are managed in Utah, when and if they are removed from the list of threatened and endangered species, will be during a series of public meetings this month.

The plan is available for review at the Division of Wildlife Resources' Web site — www.wildlife.utah.gov.

The meetings will be before the Regional Advisory Council, which is comprised of citizen representatives. The RAC representatives take the public input and will present it to the Utah Wildlife Board on June 9 in Salt Lake City, when the board is expected to approve the plan.

A strategy to help Utah's most sensitive wildlife and wildlife habitats, and upland game hunting rules for Utah's 2005-2006 season, also will be discussed at the meetings. Meeting dates, times and locations are:

May 17 — Southern Region, 7 p.m. at Beaver High School, 195 E. Center St.

May 18 — Southeastern Region, 6:30 p.m. at John Wesley Powell Museum, 885 E. Main St. in Green River.

May 19 — Northeastern Region, 6:30 p.m. at Uintah Basin Applied Technology College, 1100 E. Lagoon St. in Roosevelt.

May 24 — Central Region, 6:30 p.m. at Springville Junior High School, 165 S. 700 East.

May 25 — Northern Region, 6 p.m. at Brigham City Community Center, 24 N. 300 West.

The 96-page Wolf Management Plan was put together by the state's Wolf Working Group. The group consists of 13 citizens and includes sportsmen, wolf advocates, ranchers and people with other wolf-related interests.

The DWR assembled the group in the summer of 2003 to draft a plan that will guide the management of wolves that may one day make their way to Utah from surrounding states.

At the group's April 12 meeting, a sportsmen's representative left the group and refused to endorse the draft plan that will be taken to the public meetings. He was concerned that the plan doesn't protect Utah's big game animals enough from wolves.

"We're happy with the plan the group put together, but we're disappointed that the group couldn't reach agreement on the final version of the plan," said Kevin Bunnell, mammals program coordinator for the DWR. "We were directed by the Legislature to put together a wolf management plan. The plan the group put together will be taken to the public for comment, even though one of the group members didn't give his final approval."