- Utah will introduce a free digital access permit for wildlife areas starting July 1, adding new option to existing license requirement.
- The permit requires watching an educational video and will be valid for a year.
- The rule starts with Wasatch Front; expands statewide by 2028.
SALT LAKE CITY — A hunting or fishing license will still be required for anyone 18 or older entering a wildlife management area within the Wasatch Front for a little bit longer, but state wildlife officials have unveiled how they plan to tweak the rule to comply with a bill passed this year.
While most bills that were passed during this year's legislative session will go into effect on Wednesday, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will continue to require licenses for adults entering the 30 wildlife management areas within Davis, Salt Lake, Utah and Weber counties through the end of June.
However, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources plans to add a new "digital access permit" for people planning to access those areas beginning on July 1, the start of the state's next fiscal year, and when HB30, which directed the change, goes into law.
The new permit is free but can only be obtained after watching a short educational video, said Chelsea Duke, the division's assistant habitat section chief and wildlife lands coordinator.
"(The division) proposes that the educational video be on our website, similar to many of the online resources provided by DWR," she said in a video about the changes that the agency released last week.
The educational video, she explained, will quickly explain the history and importance of wildlife management areas, how they are funded and how to safely recreate on them. At the end, the viewer will be prompted online to acknowledge a statement about access before receiving a digital access permit. It will be valid for 365 days and renewed annually to have access to wildlife management areas.
Utah created wildlife management areas a century ago, setting aside land for waterfowl or big game habitat. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources now maintains 133 management areas that total nearly 570,000 acres statewide, which has historically been funded through hunting and fishing license sales, and federal taxes tied to the sale of associated equipment.
The division reported issues with maintaining them amid a spike in visitation in recent years, including people who came for other recreation activities. That sparked last year's HB309, which — aside from some exemptions — required a license to enter management areas within the Wasatch Front, since that's where funding for the land came from.
But that also led to several issues that inspired lawmakers to revisit the bill, leading to HB30.
While free, people seeking to receive a digital access permit will also be asked to donate to the division's wildlife management area fund. Anyone who donates at least $40 will be allowed to fish in the state, since it's the same cost as a fishing license, Duke said.
Rule to expand statewide
The division plans to roll out the license or permit requirement rule next year to 80 other wildlife management areas, including northern Utah, the Wasatch Backcountry and Uinta Basin, as well as parts of southeast and southwest Utah, which were previously unaffected by the 2025 law.
The rule will be applied to every wildlife management area in the state by mid-2028, Duke said.
The new law maintains certain exemptions to the permit or license requirement. They include anyone who has property rights within a management area, a valid permit or contract to be on the land or is retrieving livestock, as well as anyone participating in educational programs or has temporary permission from the division director, such as during the division's annual "free fishing day."
Anyone traveling on a designated highway or trail within a management area can also be exempt, as long as they stay on the path.
The Utah Wildlife Board is slated to decide on the final rule next month. It will accept online comments through the division's site through the end of June 4 before taking up the conversation during its June 11 meeting in Farmington.
