The State of Utah continues to Screw Up

The State of Utah can really irk me something fierce.

They instituted a Coyote Bounty to reduce the number of Predators that have been tearing up the population of Utah’s Big Game species.  50 Bucks for a pair of years.  That’s good.  But then Utah requires not just the Ears, but the Jaw, and GPS Coordinates of the where the Coyote was taken.  And you can’t take more than one in the same location.  You have to fill out forms… Its pretty much a mess and it makes it not worth pursuing Coyotes.  Many hunters have pretty much given up on it thanks to the over-regulation and making it more of a pain in the ass to deal with.  So they took a great program that could have done some good… and ruined it.

Then the State has sold out the Uintah Basin by approving a Pipeline to take water from Flaming Gorge to feed Denver.  This is going to drop the Gorge by an estimated 20 feet.  This pretty much is going to ruin all the best fishing spots.  Thanks a lot, Utah.  The Flaming Gorge is a travel destination for people coming from all across the country – and Utah just decided to sell it out.  Never mind the businesses that depend on people coming to the Gorge… Screw those guys.

And this last one… this one pisses me off almost as much the the Flaming Gorge pipeline…  And this is the US Forest Service that did it, not the State of Utah, but the State didn’t do anything to stop it.
My brother and I went to a Ghost Town location.  A place called Bullionville.  It was a Mine that went under back in the 20’s.  It had a number of cabins and such.  In the 30’s it was revived again that’s to the use of the CCC that came in, used the location, fixed it up even.  I’ve seen photos of the location, the buildings, and cars and trucks at the location.  It’s a piece of Utah’s history.  Or it was.
My brother and I found the location to the spot.  Nothing there.  You can see though, where it was, where the buildings were, where the ponds were.  But there’s nothing left.  I was told the US Forest Service tore it all down and out.  Destroying a piece of Utah’s History.  Thanks a lot US Forest Service.

13 thoughts on “The State of Utah continues to Screw Up”

  1. The requirement for the lower jaw and location taken make sense ’cause your local bios need the data those provide. The ears and only one taken in an area is government bullshit. Cutting off the ears ruins the full pelt and taking only one in an area means what? If you’re in an area that doesn’t get hunted and you take one, that’s only one gone from the area. Another area that gets hit hard has a lot of coyotes gone. No balance there. Bad management.

  2. Yeah, I can’t speak for the ears or the limit but as a biologist I can tell you that tooth and GIS data is critical. No better way of understanding the individual populations and their ranges. The $50 isn’t just UT paying you to lower pred. populations, it’s them paying you for population dynamics data.

    1. BMQ215: If the important bit is the lower jaw, then they should just ask for that. Removing the ears lowers the value of the pelt … Asian buyers pay good money for good pelts, even if the PETA bunch has ruined the US market.

      Just demand that the jaw be reasonably fresh so someone can’t sell the state old bones.

      Ogre: Just carry a backpacker GPS and hit the man overboard button, and put a number and date on the jaw to sort out which coords go with which one.

      1. Yeah, I’m not sure what their strategy is with that, but I’m also not a canid biologist. Very plausible that I’m missing something obvious. The best possible answers I can find are that 1) they’ve ear notched or tagged some coyotes and they’re using the data for population statistics or 2) it’s the best way to prevent double payment. The last one is mentioned on the DWR site a few times but not being a mammal guy I’m unequipped to debate the pros and cons of it. Conceivably a lower jaw would be pretty hard to replicate but they could just be extracting a tooth and tossing the jaw which would invite people scamming.

        Ogre: Not sure what you’re running phonewise these days but most smartphones have GPS built in. Many, if not all, work even when outside of service range. Lots of free apps to record coordinates. My favorite is “GPS Essentials”

        1. Break the jaw after you extract the tooth.

          Easy.

          The reason for the ears is because they always did it that way.

  3. Actually, where are you getting your information regarding “can’t take more than one in the same location”? I did a little looking into the program because I was curious about what UT DWR was doing and I can’t find any official mention of that. Only that they have some areas that they’d prefer you to hunt in but that “any coyote taken in Utah can be submitted for compensation”.

      1. Hmm, wires are crossed somewhere. Having worked for state agencies I’m not surprised.

        That being said a glance at their compensation form shows that their example coordinates are down to two decimals of arcsecond, or just about a foot. Going off of that it shouldn’t be too easy to get “the same location”.

  4. Hmmm if the State of Utah is selling water to Colorado I bet they are violating some Federal Regulation about raping a wetland or something.
    I’d be real tempted to give them a bogus GPS location, somewhere in a suburb of Salt Lake City for instance or perhaps in a state office of some politician.

  5. Welcome to the club, Colorado has been rapeing the Arkansas river for decades to sell the water to California with Kansas approvial . I am not suprised they worked out a similar deal with Utah.

    1. California tried that in Oregon.

      An initiative petition forbidding water rights sales to parties outside the state put an end to that crap.

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