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SALT LAKE CITY — When the Division of Wildlife Resources launched a hunting and fishing app in November, there were high hopes for its success.
According to Greg Sheehan, director of the DWR, “Utahns are showing more interest than ever in mobile sites and applications.” For his team, it made sense to offer licenses, permits and other resources through the convenience of an app.
Kenny Johnson, Admin Services Chief of the DWR, pointed out that the key goal of the app was to increase efficiency.
“We wanted to make interacting with the Division of Wildlife fast, easy, and meaningful,” Johnson said.
Of course, new apps come and go all the time. It was unclear how Utah hunters and anglers would respond to the new technology.
Just a few months removed from the launch, however, the results seem to be promising. Not only has the app received positive reviews from many local users, but it was recently named “Best Government Mobile Application” by the Web Marketing Association. The association’s annual MobileWebAward competition honors the most effective and useful mobile websites and across the Internet.
For Sheehan and the rest of the DWR team, the prestigious award validates all the hard work put into developing the app.
“We're honored that the tech community recognizes the impact of our powerfully robust yet simple app,” Sheehan said. “We didn't set out to win any awards—we just designed and implemented an app we knew our citizens would love.”
This marks the second consecutive year that a Utah.Gov app has earned a MobileWebAward. The UT OnTime public transportation app was awarded in 2014.
Sheehan insists that the DWR has no intention of resting on their laurels. They’ve already identified elements of the app that can be approved.
“The future will only be better,” he said.
Grant Olsen joined the KSL.com contributor team in 2012. He covers outdoor adventures, travel, product reviews and other interesting things. You can contact him at grantorrin@gmail.com.
