Plan OK'd to help at-risk wildlife

A plan to help at-risk wildlife and the places they live in Utah has been approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Utah Wildlife Action Plan, also known as the Utah Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, is the result of more than two years of work by scientists, conservationists — including sportsmen and nongovernmental groups — and others, including ranchers and farmers.

Utah is one of the first states in the nation to have its plan approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service. The plan is available for review on the state Division of Wildlife Resource's Web site, wildlife.utah.gov.

"Fish and wildlife in Utah will benefit from the strategic and science-based planning that went into this plan, which is one of the first wildlife action plans to be approved in the nation," said Ralph Morgenweck, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Mountain-Prairie Region.

"We look forward to working in partnership with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to help prevent Utah's diverse wildlife from becoming threatened or endangered in the future," he said.

"If we invest in conserving wildlife habitat now, we can protect these areas for future generations of Utahns and their families," said Dana Dolsen, wildlife planning manager for the DWR and the person who coordinated Utah's planning effort.

"A proactive approach benefits the health of all wildlife and people and conserves at-risk wildlife and their habitat before they become more rare and more costly to protect," he said.

The health of wildlife is often an early indicator of disease and pollution that affect people, too. The Utah Wildlife Action Plan helps protect clean water and air, making both wildlife and people healthier.

Now that the plan has been approved, the DWR will rely on partnerships to carry it out.

"The plan recommends certain actions to benefit at-risk species and their habitats," Dolsen said. "We need all of our partners to agree on these actions so we can implement them and follow through."

Dolsen said ongoing watershed- and rangeland-restoration efforts by the Utah Partners for Conservation and Development, a partnership of state and federal agencies and conservation groups, is integral to the plan's success. Actions will be taken over the next 10 years to address the problems at-risk wildlife species face from a variety of sources, both human and natural.

DWR director Jim Karpowitz said another benefit is that the plan is cost-effective because it's a cooperative effort involving many partners.

"It also helps conserve the places that bring peace and relaxation to our daily lives," he said. "And it shows us how to cooperatively conserve the wildlife and natural places that are important to many of the family traditions we have in Utah.

"Utahns need to come together now to invest money and practice stewardship of our wildlife and natural areas."