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SALT LAKE CITY — The recent proposal to legalize crow hunting in Utah has brought varying responses — with one person starting a petition against it.
In April, the Division of Wildlife Resources proposed the idea to legalize crow hunting in Utah. Blair Stringham, the migratory game bird coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, said the proposal came after the DWR was approached by several organizations who complained about the birds.
"We are seeing quite a bit of growth with crow populations, particularly along the Wasatch Front," Stringham said. "We are getting really large roost colonies that cause a lot of noise and they have a lot of droppings that they produce. There is some crop damage occurring as well with the fruit orchards."
However, Elisa Nelson told KSL in an email that she is leading the fight against the crow hunt. Nelson runs a Utah Animal Education Facebook page where she tries to inform the public about different species of animals. She said that crow hunting is wrong.
"They say that there are tons and tons of crows in Utah — there are not," Nelson wrote on the petition. "Crows mate for life so, if people kill one crow they are killing several. If you feel that this is wrong like I do, please add your name to this petition."
Nelson started the petition in response to the proposed hunt and as of Tuesday night, the petition had garnered 2,238 names.
The proposed hunt would run during the month of September during harvest season to minimize fruit damage from crows. The proposal would also allow farmers and people to deal with the "bird nuisance" on their own property, Stringham said.
The crow hunt would also run from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28 to help thin out the migratory crow population during the winter months. Stringham said that during the winter, Utah receives large groups of migrating crows with roosts as large as 1,000 birds.
The DWR has held several meetings around the state to have public input on the proposed hunt. The final meeting will be held June 5 at the Salt Lake office of the Department of Natural Resources at 1594 W. North Temple. Nelson and Stringham both encouraged people to attend and give their opinion before the Utah Wildlife Board makes the final ruling on the proposal.
"I would just encourage people if they have opinions to come out and voice them," Stringham said. "We're not trying to do this in the dark. The public is ultimately who owns wildlife in Utah. Anybody is welcome to come."
Stringham said Montana, Texas, New Mexico and Utah are the only states without legalized crow hunting.
