Section 3.1 – Landowner or lessee authorized to kill big game animals.

• (1)
  • (a) A landowner or lessee may kill big game animals damaging those cultivated crops on private land if:
    • (i) it is necessary to protect cultivated crops;
    • (ii) 72 hours has expired since a request for action is given pursuant to Subsection 23-16-3(1)(a);
    • (iii) the landowner or lessee has provided or sent written notice of an intent to kill the big game animal to the nearest regional office;
    • (iv) the landowner or lessee kills the big game animal within 90 days, or a longer period, if approved, in writing, by the division, after having requested that the division take action to prevent depredation under Subsection 23-16-3(1)(a); and
    • (v) the killing is not prohibited by Subsection (2)(a) or (3).
  • (b) Immediately after killing a big game animal under Subsection (1)(a), the landowner or lessee shall notify the division of the killing.
  • (c) The carcass of a big game animal killed under Subsection (1)(a) is the property of the division and the division shall dispose of the carcass.
  • (d) Money derived from the sale of big game animals killed shall be placed in the Wildlife Resources Account created in Section 23-14-13.
  • (e) A landowner or lessee who kills big game animals pursuant to this section shall:
    • (i) make reasonable effort to prevent the big game animals from wasting; and
    • (ii) provide the division reasonable access to the landowner’s or lessee’s land to retrieve and dispose of the big game animals.

• (2)
  • (a) The division director may prohibit the killing of big game animals under Subsection (1)(a) if, within 72 hours after a landowner or lessee has requested that the division take action to remove depredating big game animals, the division:
    • (i) determines that the restitution value of the big game animal or animals, as established under Section 23-20-4.5, is more than twice the estimated value of the cultivated crops that have been or will be damaged or consumed within a single growing season;
    • (ii) determines that the prohibition is consistent with the management plan established under Section 23-16-7;
    • (iii) notifies the landowner or lessee of the prohibition; and
    • (iv) offers the landowner or lessee a depredation mitigation plan.
  • (b) A landowner or lessee who is offered a depredation mitigation plan may:
    • (i) accept the plan in writing; or
    • (ii) refuse to accept the plan and appeal the plan, in writing, to the division director.

• (3) After a landowner or lessee has killed a big game animal under Subsection (1)(a), the division director may prohibit any further killing of big game animals if:
  • (a) the division takes the actions described in Subsections (2)(a)(i) through (iv); or
  • (b) the mitigation review panel reviews and approves the depredation mitigation plan.

Amended by Chapter 45, 2022 General Session