H.B. 30 Wildlife Management Area Amendments

Your legislators on this bill

Enter your address to see how your own representative and senator voted and where they spoke.

Quotes come from the official recordings' automatic captions, which can mishear words. Speakers and one-line summaries are identified by AI and can be wrong. Use the ▶ links to check the recording before you rely on a quote.

What the bill does

This bill addresses wildlife management areas.

Hearings and debates

• Jan 23, 2026 House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (51 turns)

  1. Unknown speaker1:25:31speaker not certain

     For a WMA first, then water.

  2. Committee chair1:25:33

     Okay. 30 then HB 30, wildlife Management Area Amendments. And I'll turn the mic back over to Representative. Go ahead, Albright. Go Ahead. Oh, Go ahead. Oh, he's gonna make me do it, so I'll, I'll do it. So, okay. The time is yours, representative Allen Berger.

  3. Rep. David Shallenberger1:25:51

     Thank you. So there is a substitute online for House Bill 30, and I'll be speaking to that. Okay. Um, so this one is a follow up from this committee for last year where there was a really big wildlife management amendment bill, and there was two lines in that bill that said, uh, people using wildlife management area need a hunting or fishing license. And then a few weeks after the session ended, we started getting lots of emails, lots of calls, and a lot of angry people saying, you mean I need a $40 fishing license to ride my bike up in the mountains of Timpanogos? And that's about the gist of the thousands of contacts. In fact, talking to Senator Stratton, he's like, I got more pushback from that than I did, uh, the Union bill, which was a nightmare last year. So he got a lot more pushback in our area. And, uh, to put that in, just the reason I'm here is this sort of became the epicenter focused around the temp tempos wildlife management area, WMA, which is in Orem, and right in the foothills of warm there, right at the base of Timpanogos. So right in my, my backyard. I live two minutes from there. And so we've spent the last six months talking with, uh, Representative Snider with Justin Shannon and Riley Peck, with Senator Stratton with members of, uh, a lot of the different communities out here, neighbors, the ma uh, people using these trails. And the timpanogos, WMA was created 80 years ago when it was just orchards in, in Orem. It was just a lot of, of, of orchards and, and farmland. And over that 80 years, it's now been built out like a lot of the Wasatch front. And it's now homes all the way up to the base of the mountain. Uh, it's in those 80 years, people have hiked, run, rode their bikes up there, and it's, they've had the WMA signs, wildlife management signs, and uh, then here they've never had to pay a fee. Now we do. So we're here, we're trying to find a compromise where the, the way I describe it, there's $2 billion industries, two separate industries. You have a billion dollar hunting and fishing industry. And then on the other side you have a billion dollar outdoor recreation industry. And, uh, sometimes they bump up each other against each other. And we have some friction points. And that's where we are. A solution we wanna try is, um, sort of a novel solution where we looked at this and said, we can either charge $40 or some nominal fee, $8, $10, $50, $80, make everybody pay that's gonna use this. Or like it has been for the last 80 years where we don't charge anything for recreation and let people just go up there and use it. And the approach we've settled on is sort of a middle ground that we wanna try and see how it goes. We've worked hard getting to this area. And so it's really focuses on three, uh, different areas, which is as we've talked with DWR, Representative Snider, where we said, what's the number one thing? What's a win for you? Is it the money? No, what is it? And they said, education. Education, getting people educated that are using these WMAs. The biggest comment I heard from people was, uh, you mean to tell me I have to pay money to use the public space? This is public space. I should be able to use it. And so as we started talking, we said, well, let's back up a second. Let's look at the public space. Federal for federal lands, you have National Forest service, national wilderness, you have national parks, you have national monuments, you have BLM, and they're all used differently. They have different requirements. Some require fees, some you don't, some you can have campfires, some you don't. And so there's different use on every one of those. Similarly, in state lands, we have sitler, we have state parks, we have WMAs. Each of those have different requirements. And with WMA specifically, the primary focus is the wildlife, right? And so I have Justin Shannon up here, uh, from DWR. I want him to sort of answer questions you may have or speak to this, but the key focus on this was education. So we're working together to make an educational video. It's accessible online on QR codes, at trail heads throughout the WMAs, and where people can watch a video, two minute video similar to like the standup paddleboards or the boating or side byside. If you do that, you say, okay, I know what an A WMA is. I understand that it's different than a state park or a skate park or just general BLM land. Um, and then it's also gonna offer the financial component instead of forcing people to, it's sort of a novel idea. We're trying out for a year or two or see how it goes. We'll come back, if it's not working, let's change it. But let people just offer to donate, whether it's five bucks or 20 bucks or $40 or a hundred dollars. Businesses can donate, nonprofits can donate, but there's a lot of use on these lands from bikers and hikers. And the only way they've been able to contribute in the past 80 years is by buying a fishing license or a hunting license. And there's been studies done by Utah State University over the last five years, and well over 50% of these people have never had a fishing or hunting license in their life. So we've talked about, well, do we create a recreation license? And there's a lot of input that goes into this. If we can get $40 for a fishing license, we get federal matching funds. And so the state gets sort of a bonus. And so, so we're trying this donation period. If we do just a straight recreation license, we don't get those matching funds. So we're trying to do a donation. Let's see what people are willing to get. I've give, I've been in these biking communities, I've been in these, uh, hiking communities for years. They've been eager to be part of the solution and help take care of these. Uh, Mark Farmer, the WMA, uh, worker, is he a sergeant? What's habitat manager? The habitat, he's the guy that runs temp WMA as well. Some others. He's worked with the bike team down there. And he said they've been instrumental and crucial in maintain, helping maintain the WMA, doing annual trail work maintenance there, garbage cleanup. The public wants to be part of these. And so whether it's with a carrot or the stick whipping 'em or giving 'em incentive, they wanna be part of these, whether it's through service projects, through donations, they wanna be included as part of the puzzle. And so that's where we are. And educational component, an ability to donate and create some service projects, service opportunities for these groups, including the hunters, the fishermen, neighbors, hiking groups, and biking groups. So that's it, that's what the bill does. Um, would love any comments that, uh, Justin Shannon has and would welcome any, uh, questions as well. Thank you. And that mic is rough.

  4. Committee chair1:32:41

     Go ahead Justin. Okay.

  5. Justin Shannon, Deputy Director, Division of Wildlife Resources1:32:43

     Um, I just, I just wanna thank the bill sponsor for reaching out last summer when it, it was really clear that he and Senator Stratton and others were getting a lot of pressure in their communities. Um, the comments that they made were, we are gonna swing the pendulum back. And they said, as we do that, what is important to you? And so, as the Division of Wildlife, what's really important for us on these WMAs is the educational component. They're, they're unique, they're different at its foundation. These properties are for wildlife and their wildlife habitats. And if we can do things on top of that that don't erode the foundation of, of why those properties were purchased in the first place, I think we should explore that, whether it's grazing or different things like that. But at its foundation, this is for wildlife and for wildlife habitat. And so the education component was really key to us. And the other thing was just if, if we're not gonna have it be mandatory for a fishing license, just we ask the sponsor to please leave open an a funding avenue for people that genuinely do want to, to donate. Um, and, and I think that's important. The last part that was important to us as an agency was partnerships, wildlife and their habitats need a lot of partners in order to be successful. Um, that, that's key. We need social and political support for these and, and, and we need people that care. And I think we have that. And so I, I just wanna thank the sponsor for you as they made decisions to swing the pendulum back for considering these things that were important to us as an agency. So

  6. Committee chair1:34:14

     Does that conclude your presentation?

  7. Justin Shannon, Deputy Director, Division of Wildlife Resources1:34:16

     Yep. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.

  8. Committee chair1:34:17

     We'll bring it back to the committee for clarifying questions. Representative Bolinder?

  9. Rep. Bridger Bolinder1:34:23

     Yeah. I just wanna do, uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. So after the legislation that we passed last year, um, I think all of us had a lot of constituents that reached out and, and were upset that maybe they needed a, a hunting or fishing license to be able to recreate in these WMAs. And so I know that this is a tough, uh, area to go into. I appreciate you addressing this. I think it addresses the, some concerns that a lot of people had, uh, about our WMAs. A couple of questions that I had. So this does seem more complicated than just charging a, a fee or buying a hunting license. What, and, and the educational portion of this, I really like, what if we get down the road, say a year, two years, nobody's scanning the QR code, nobody's watching the, the educational video. Um, what do we then do? I mean to, this is a huge state investment and, uh, what, what would you propose we do at that point?

  10. Unknown speaker1:35:21speaker not certain

      Um, do you answer? I can answer this. Yeah, go.

  11. Rep. David Shallenberger1:35:24

      So, I mean, this is a, a policy direction and trying something new. If it's not working in a couple years, a year or two, we'll start knowing next year. But two years from now, we will know for sure. And if it's not, let's sit down and readdress the issue, uh, or address it and say, it's obviously not working. Let's try something new. It might be some type of nominal fee, or it might be a full fee. It might be the creation of a full recreation license. Uh, I've been involved with these groups and I think there's the goodwill and the intent to be good partners, both from these groups and from our cities. I know we've worked with the City of Orem finding a solution to this. They're excited to be partners in this. And there's been this weird barrier there where the city of Orem wants to work with these areas, but it's either forest service or, uh, state land and not city, city land. So now they're being sort of invited to the table and being, uh, in creating a vision for this area and being a good partner.

  12. Committee chair1:36:26

      Okay. Thank you. Thank you, representative Bolander.

  13. Unknown speaker1:36:30speaker not certain

      Uh, I have a couple of questions. Maybe Mr. Shannon, I could direct question I have on it is, of course, I, I don't know where this WMA is. It's apparently in Utah County somewhere, uh, which, and these are designed for wildlife. Uh, do the mule deer, uh, winter there.

  14. Justin Shannon, Deputy Director, Division of Wildlife Resources1:36:53

      What kind of wildlife do we have on this WMA? Yeah, Great question. Um, for reference, this w a's at the mouth of Provo Canyon as you're heading up to Heber City, and it's on the north, uh, portion of the road there, um, winters, deer, elk, um, there's a big horn sheep population that lambs and some rocks just, um, those, those rocks are, some of those are on the WMA, most of them are just off onto the forest service. Um, there's moose, there's pretty much your big game species that you would have are are there using it. So,

  15. Unknown speaker1:37:28speaker not certain

      So a follow up question on that. So the activity there, I presume, uh, representative that there's biking and hiking and so forth, is, does, is any of that affecting the wildlife? Is it disturbing? 'cause I know in the wintertime especially, we gotta be really careful with the wildlife so they can survive the winter. Is is there any, uh, effect with that?

  16. Justin Shannon, Deputy Director, Division of Wildlife Resources1:37:54

      Yeah. Um, one thing we do on that property is a winter closure. It's a seasonal closure. And so that way, um, those big game animals have a place to winter without the disturbance. And as was mentioned earlier, it is right there along the urban interface. Um, this is an example of one of these WMAs that candidly is just being loved to death. Um, there's a lot of people that want to be on that property, and, and so do we get some people on there in the winter months? Yeah, it's something we have to monitor and, and watch, but the seasonal closures there and, um, we're trying, so,

  17. Unknown speaker1:38:29speaker not certain

      Okay. Thank you. Um, I have more clarifying questions.

  18. Committee chair1:38:36

      I see Representative Arthur,

  19. Rep. John Arthur1:38:40

      Thank you, chair. Um, just to clarify, this would affect, impact all WMAs, right? Or is this specific to just this, this one that we're talking about?

  20. Rep. David Shallenberger1:38:49

      Uh, so the original bill, and this is a continuation of that, it was, uh, divided basically just along the Wasatch front.

  21. Rep. John Arthur1:38:56

      Okay. There's almost 150 WMAs across the state. Right.

  22. Rep. David Shallenberger1:38:59

      And so they attended this, especially with a new program mm-hmm. With a new program, is to start small, test this out. Let's see if it works. Let's prove the theory or adjust it small rather than just blasting it out across the entire state. So it's designated, I think class one and class two counties, which is along the Wasatch front.

  23. Rep. John Arthur1:39:17

      Okay. So, Oh, and Juab, just to clarify, it does that for the first year and then the third and fourth the second, and then the fifth and sixth the third year.

  24. Rep. David Shallenberger1:39:26

      So it incremental Correct. Over time, it, it broadens out. So for example, the Goshen Bay Waterfall Management area we were just talking about this would fall into that.

  25. Rep. John Arthur1:39:35

      Yeah. Yeah. Right. Okay. Um, thank you so much. That was my question.

  26. Committee chair1:39:40

      Thank you, representative Arthur. Uh, seeing no, I do All Representative Ulbrich.

  27. Unknown speaker1:39:48speaker not certain

      Thank you. Uh, is there any grazing allotments on this WMA

  28. Justin Shannon, Deputy Director, Division of Wildlife Resources1:39:55speaker not certain

      Not on, not on temp on on others That, you know, that's a great question and I, I don't know off the top of my head. Let me, let me send a text and find out. So,

  29. Rep. David Shallenberger1:40:05

      And that was one of this, so this was also presented this summer during the Interim Natural Resources Committee. One of, uh, representative Chu's big concerns was what happens if his sheep wander onto the WMA out there in, uh, ENA County, and does he have to get a fishing license to go on there to get his sheep off? And, and so, uh, Justin Shannon, everybody's like, no, please come get your sheep. Well, yeah, you don't want sheep mixing with, uh, So Wild sheep. Yeah. So I think there's actually a line in there now that says, Representative Chew can come get a sheep if they're on there. I think he added an amendment If there was grazing for cattle. Seems like to me it's a pretty good site. But I, I know, uh, during certain situations, like the fire on Monroe Mountain, they allowed grazing on the WMA, uh, down there in Piute County too.

  30. Committee chair1:41:03

      So, okay. Scene, no further questions. Clarifying questions from the committee. We'll open it up to the public. Anybody in the public wanna speak to this? Raise your hand. Okay. Come on up.

  31. Matt Anderson, Director, Utah Sportsman Caucus1:41:21

      Tell us who you are, who you represent, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. Good to be with you this afternoon. My name is Matt Anderson, and I'm rep, I'm the director of the Utah Sportsman's Caucus, which represents anglers, hunters, and trappers across the state of Utah. First, I want to give great commands and kudos to the sponsor of this legislation. He came to our meeting, um, yesterday, our Sportsman's caucus, and spoke with us and talked with us, then met with our advisory council, and then last evening, he spent a considerable amount of time on the phone with me, so thank you to him. There are many things to like about this bill, specifically the education component. We are so happy that the story is being told that hunters and our anglers are the ones who paid completely for these lands. And we have gone to Congress and the state legislature and consistently been asked to be taxed to preserve wildlife. We were one of the very few recreation groups that decides to do that. And so we're grateful that that story is being told. The one concern that we have is that if we remove this requirement for hunting and fishing licenses, it, we believe that it could potentially result in some significant loss of potential revenue. As was mentioned previously, there's revenue that that's generated from the cell of these licenses, but then there's matching dollars that come from the federal government. That said, we are very aware of the conflicts with other recreation groups, and we are more than happy to compromise and to negotiate. You know, one of the things that we would hope could be an amendment to this piece of legislation, it was mentioned before, but is some sort of a nominal fee so that these individuals are paying to the system and their impacts on wildlife. People have recreated it on these lands for generations. That's a fact. But our state's growing. It's getting bigger, and this wildlife are being impacted. Hikers, mountain bikers and others have an impact, and they have a take on wildlife, and we believe that they should pay into it. We're not talking about a $40 fee, five, $10, not just because of the money it generates, but that is also an educational opportunity. When somebody goes online and they buy a five, $10 permit, they can see that what their money is going towards and that they have an impact. And so that's what we're recommending here not to kill this bill. There are so many things that are great about it, but simply to add in a portion where individuals who are using these lands are paying their fair share and preserving the wildlife that is so important to all of us. Thank you.

  32. Committee chair1:43:51

      Thank you for your testimony. Uh, seeing no further, uh, uh, public comments in-house. We're gonna go online to, uh, JM Fbri Fabree. You'll turn on your camera and tell us who you represent and where you are. Go ahead.

  33. JM Fabrizi, resident1:44:15

      Hi there, my name's jm. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my comment. Uh, I'm a competitive endurance mountain runner, mountain biker hiker and general outdoor enthusiast, uh, along the Wasatch front. And first and foremost, I just want to thank Representative Shallenberger for listening to our voices. You know, I'm one of the people that reached out to representatives about this bill, and I, I truly believe that this is a good solution to the issue at hand. Um, I think that connection to a place and inclusion in community is really important. And I, myself, uh, I have never considered myself a hunter nor angler. But with that said, um, you know, wildlife and, and wildlife habitats are extremely important to me and extremely important to those in the, in the community that I surround myself with. One of the big problems is that when folks that are recreating, you know, not hunting and, and not fishing, uh, in these places, when they're told that they need to, to purchase a hunting and fishing, permit fishing, I think it actually creates this divisiveness, um, because people don't identify whatsoever as, um, hunters or, or anglers. With that being said, um, I can tell you firsthand in, in speaking with many, many people that, um, those that do recreate in in these different fashions are very excited to contribute to the preservation of these places. And so I think that, again, this bill is a really great solution, and folks in our community are, are really excited to work with, you know, sportsmen, uh, to be good partners in this, in this space. And I think that this, you know, solution and, and trial, if you will, is a great way to, um, to try and allow people to contribute their part and also feel included and not like they're, you know, paying for something that, uh, that they don't identify with.

  34. Committee chair1:46:21

      Thank you for your testimony. We'll now go to, uh, Jennifer Gale, if you'll turn on your camera and go ahead.

  35. Jennifer Gale, Orem Council1:46:30

      Hi. Thank you. Um, as you said, my name is Jennifer Gale and I am on Orem City Council, and I'm also executive director of Orem Youth Cycling Association, which is a mountain bike team with about 150 riders from the Orem area. Um, and then again, another a hundred, uh, ride leaders that ride with the kids. So we're up in the mountains significantly. I myself am an avid trail user. I'm up there every day and in the wilderness management area every day when it's open because it is closed right now. I just wanna say that from both of those organizations and as a user, I really support this bill. I'm really grateful for Senator Stratton and Representative Shallenberger for working on it. I know there was a lot of public outcry, um, at the last, you know, when it first hit, so, so it's great to see a solution for this. And one thing I like about it is this, this education aspect to it. As a trail user, I have to admit that after using these trails for years, I didn't really understand what A WMA was. So this is a great opportunity for us to educate our public, me included, um, and help them know why it's important. And I think that, that what, what that will lead to is actually partnership. So as Orem City and as, uh, the mountain bike team, we're super excited to partner with the WMAG, our people on the mountain. I've worked with the natural resources, um, commission here in Orem, and the members there are really excited to get out and work in the WMAs. Um, so we see this as a great opportunity to partner, and I think it's probably the first time that I can think of where we've had the opportunity for all of these organizations to get together and work together on a project. And it'll allow us to educate our public, whether that's through Arms newsletter or whether that's through the Mountain Bike newsletter or the Mountain Bike team. Um, there are significant ways that we can help educate people and let them know what's happening, uh, for the benefit of our community. So I love the idea of donating as an individual trail user. I would be happy to do that. Um, and I know our mountain bike team collectively would be happy to do that as well. So, um, we're excited we support the bill and we hope you'll too. Thank you.

  36. Committee chair1:48:20

      Uh, thank you, uh, Mrs. Gale, appreciate your testimony. Uh, anybody else in the audience that would like to testify? Scene? None. Uh, now we'll bring it back to the committee for further discussion or action.

  37. Unknown speaker1:48:37speaker not certain

      And I see, do you have, uh, both a substitute and an amendment online? It should be just a substitute And an amendment. It shows an amendment and a substitute. Um, I'm not sure what the amendment was. Uh, I, I think it just struck the tax commission and Oh, okay. Oh yeah, they did. There was a little, they forgot two words in there that we needed to take out. Yep. So both of those.

  38. Committee chair1:49:12

      Okay. So Representative Koford.

  39. Rep. Jill Koford1:49:16

      So I would like to make a motion that we adopt substitute one as amended. Okay. That, uh, is in order. Do you wanna speak to it? Just quickly? I wanna thank Representative Shallenberger last session. We all heard a lot about this bill, and when he said he was going to take it up, I told him he was a brave soul. Thank you for your work on this and for bringing so many people to the table to get to what I think is a great consensus. Um, I learned a ton about WMAs, and I'm excited that we're going to have an opportunity to really, hopefully continue to educate the public, so thank you. Thanks.

  40. Committee chair1:49:53

      Okay. Any discussion to the motion? Seeing none, I'll go ahead and place it. The, the motion is to, uh, adopt substitute number one, uh, on s HB 30 Wildlife Management Area amendments. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Say nay. A rule that passes unanimously.

  41. Committee chair1:50:16

      Now we have, would you like to continue representative? My Mic is still on. I'd be happy to

  42. Rep. Jill Koford1:50:22

      Go ahead. I'd like to make a motion that we favorably recommend, um, Per, not, we gotta ask, we got to adopt the amendment too. Oh, didn't I? So I tried to do that all at once.

  43. Committee chair1:50:33

      No, it was, you just did the substitute. Now we need to do the amendment. Yeah. Can't do it all together. Okay.

  44. Rep. Jill Koford1:50:38

      We didn't do it all. Rookie mistake. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

  45. Committee chair1:50:42

      You're not a rookie anymore,

  46. Rep. Jill Koford1:50:43

      So I, it's a little, I know. I got a little more seniority than the rookie crossed the way for me. Okay. Go ahead. I would like, I would like to move that we amend adopt amendment one to house bill 30. Okay.

  47. Committee chair1:50:54

      That's in order. Seeing no discussion to that. Uh, the motion is that we adopt amendment one to HB 30, wildlife Management area amendments. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Say, aye. I rule that passes unanimously. Okay, now go ahead, representative. Thank

  48. Rep. Jill Koford1:51:16

      You. I'm so excited about this. Bill. I'd like to make a motion that we favor favor favorably recommend, um, first substitute, substitute house bill 30 as amended out of the committee.

  49. Committee chair1:51:29

      Okay. Thank you. Any discussion to that motion? Seeing none to the sponsor for summation.

  50. Rep. David Shallenberger1:51:38

      I swear I had something really clever to close on, but I forgot it, so I'm excited to be here and see where this goes.

  51. Committee chair1:51:44

      So I'll wave and, okay, let's Grab it. So I'll go ahead and place the motion. The motion is to pass out HB 30, uh, first substitute HB 30 Wildlife Management Area Amendments as amended. All in favor say aye. Aye. All those? Any opposed? I'll say nay. Okay. So it's how many to one? Who is the nay? Who? Eight. One. Okay. That passes eight to one. Okay. Thank you representative. Uh, well, you'll want to just go ahead and stay right there

• Feb 3, 2026 House floor debate (day 15)▶ Watch
  Transcript (11 turns)

  1. Unknown speaker17:55speaker not certain

     First substitute House bill 30, wildlife Management Area Amendments by Representative Shallenberger. This bill was heard in Natural Resources, agriculture and Environment with the vote of 8 1 5.

  2. Speaker (presiding)18:07

     Representative Shallenberger.

  3. Rep. David Shallenberger18:09

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, this is the Wildlife Management Amendment bill. A follow up from last year as a cleanup. Uh, we spent the last six months talking with all the different stakeholders in this group. Uh, the Sportsman caucus, the D-W-R-D-N-R, the recreation group, and the consensus we've come to after a lot of meetings, a lot of time spent on this is, uh, the focus is on educating the people that are gonna be accessing WMAs and making sure there's an educational component. The primary component, uh, that they understand the purpose of the WMA. There might be seasonal closures, specific rules to various WMAs and that they can respect and, and help take care of those. And then the second and third, uh, parts to this bill are allow donations from the users, from people that are going to use these areas, uh, from corporations, from non-profits, allow them to contribute and make, uh, be part of the process to make these WMAs, uh, a better place instead of being outsiders that are accessing the wildlife management areas. And the third part is having service days where they're engaging hikers, uh, trail runners, the bike community neighbors and including the hunter and the, the, the anglers also. And, uh, doing service days to help make these areas. Great. That's the bill and would love any questions or comments? Thank you.

  4. Speaker (presiding)19:35

     Thank you Representative Shallenberger discussion to the bill. Representative Cutler.

  5. Rep. Paul A. Cutler19:40

     Thank you Mr. Speaker with a sponsor, yield Representative Shallenberger, will you yield?

  6. Rep. David Shallenberger19:44

     Yes. Yes. Representative Keller.

  7. Rep. Keller19:46

     Thank you. I I appreciate the, all the work that's gone into this. And just wanted to ask, uh, uh, Mr. Speaker to, if you could clarify, if you were a bird watcher, the Farmington Bay, uh, refuge, and you wanted to go to the refuge and, and, and access and, and watch the birds under this new regulation, how would that work?

  8. Rep. David Shallenberger20:07

     Uh, so the process that we've come up with is on signs at trail heads, um, just online. They'll, the d Division of Wildlife is gonna be creating a short two or three minute video that, uh, they expect people to watch and learn about what the different WMAs are about, whether it's a bird refuge or up in the foothills or mountains or somewhere around the state. And so, watch the video, say, I've done this, and then it'll ask whether they wanna donate to that specific WMA or the WMAs in general.

  9. Rep. Keller20:38

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This will make the bird watchers the hikers and the bikers in my area. Very happy. Thank you.

  10. Speaker (presiding)20:45

      Thank you, representative Keller. Further discussion to the bill. None. Back to your Representative. Shallenberger, I'll waive. Thank you. Information has been waived.

  11. Speaker (presiding)20:55

      Voting will now be open on first substitute HB 30. Representative Tesser, would you like to vote? Representative Snider per chief, all present seeing all present, having voted voting is now closed. Uh, first substitute HB 30 passes this body with 58 US votes, 11 no votes, and be sent to the Senate for further consideration or for its consideration.

• Feb 12, 2026 Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (15 turns)

  1. Committee chair2:07:03

     We are gonna go to the next item on the agenda House bill 30 per substitute. And, uh, do you have any amendments or Nope, It's Ready to go.

  2. Unknown speaker2:07:20speaker not certain

     We do. Okay. We see in a, we see a sub, uh, house, uh, amendment online in Representative Schiff's name. Oh, yeah. Uh, he, he pulled that back. He was Drew. Okay. Thank you. That's helpful. Alright, then to the bill.

  3. Committee chair2:07:37

     This is House Bill 30 for substitute wildlife management area amendments. Go ahead. Thank

  4. Rep. David Shallenberger2:07:42

     You. Uh, I'm joined today with Chelsea Duke from Division of Wildlife. So this is a part of a cleanup, cleaning up a loophole from a, a wildlife bill of last year dealing with wildlife management areas. We have nearly 150 of 'em around the state. One of the largest is right outside Senator Stratton Denies house, uh, Senator. Uh, it's the Tempos WMA. And after the session, we started getting a lot of emails, uh, 'cause it required people to buy a fishing license to go ride a bike, to go hiking, to go trail running in the foothills. And, um, I want to appreciate Senator Owens and Senator Stratton for meeting and getting together with the Division of Wildlife with Riley Peck and Justin Shannon. Justin was gonna be here today. He had a family emergency and so he is, uh, take with his son at the hospital getting bandaged up. And so I appreciate his help along the way, but excuse his absence here. Um, and one of the things is what Senator Owens and Senator Stratton in one of our first meetings asked Division of Wildlife, said, you know, what is the most important thing for DWR getting out of this? Is it the money? Is it the $40 license fee? Or is it the education? Both, uh, representative Schneider who ran the bill last year and the, um, DWR, the vision of wildlife responding. No, it's education. It's education. The people that we talked to came back. They were like, it's public lands. Public lands. You can't stop us from accessing public lands. And I take a step back when I hear that and I say, well, let's look at some of the types of public lands on federal lands. We have, uh, national parks, national monuments sit, uh, not sitler, that's state, but BLM, uh, forest Service. And they all are different. They all serve a different purpose. They all have slightly different restrictions on what you can and can't do, whether they cost money or not cost money. And statewise, uh, here in our state, we heard Representative Albrecht talking about sitler in our state parks. And WMA fits into that in our, our state land that is also public. But, um, division of Wildlife said education is the most important thing we can do for our WMAs. We know that there's, uh, gonna be recreation on these areas, but learning that it might be a wildlife resting area in the winter, or a bird refuge in, uh, a certain area, w other spots around the state. But education for the people that are gonna use it is the number one most important priority. So we, the solution that we put into this bill is, uh, requiring people to watch a two minute video. It's gonna be available at the trail heads through a QR code or on their phones or on the signs around or on pamphlets, getting the word out to learn what is this WMA, how is it different than a park? Uh, but then we don't wanna lose out on the ability to raise money and help improve these WMAs. So letting people donate, if it's $5 or $40 if anywhere above $40, we get matching federal funds through the fishing licenses. But they can donate as much as they want. And it opens up the possibility for businesses or nonprofits to also donate, uh, that we're not able to do it before. So Justin Shannon mentioned that one of the bird refuges up, uh, along the lake, they already have a private donor that's excited to donate $10,000 to help that WMA. So they're excited about that. And then, I don't know if you were in the rot rotunda today, there was a fish, a lot of fishing groups. One of 'em was a group called Fish for Garbage. And they go around to some of our rivers in the state and along the Provo River this last year, we had a big meet and greet with those guys. And the big huge dumpsters, the yard dumpsters, we filled six entire dumpsters full of garbage that we pulled out. Um, specifically with our WMAs, we want to partner with groups like that and our WMAs. 'cause we find couches up in these WMAs along the foothills for people watching the Sunset. So couches up there, we found full trampolines set up up there for kids to jump on trampolines. Uh, so, uh, people dump mattresses up there. So, uh, create an opportunity for these trail runners, for the people that live close by to create some of our, the service and, uh, give back into these areas to help improve them also. So service, money, donations, but education is the biggest component and partnering with DWR, they've been great partners as we've worked here. So it's been a good effort to get everybody's input. And, uh, the High School Biking Association, they have 7,000 high school bike kids. I've already talked to them. They're excited to partner and make sure that they are donating and not just using the trails, but partners in giving back money and helping improve these trails and WMAs in these areas. So, um, I don't know if Division Wildlife would like to add anything.

  5. Chelsea Duke, Assistant Chief of Habitat, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources2:12:28

     Thank you. Chelsea Duke, assistant Chief for the Habitat section of the Division of Wildlife Resources. I just wanna thank the sponsor of this bill for hearing the concerns of the public and coming up with creative solutions to, um, help us get the message about why we own wildlife management areas and waterfowl management areas, what their purpose is, how they were purchased, and what uses are compatible with wildlife. Um, we feel like the educational component of this bill does just that and we are very supportive. Thank you.

  6. Committee chair2:12:56

     So that concludes our presentation. Great. Thank you representative. I really appreciate, uh, your leadership over this in the past year and, um, getting, rallying everyone together to, to address this. So, alright, let me bring it to the committee. If there's anyone that has a clarifying question for the sponsor, not seeing any, let me go to the public who is here to speak to this bill. Raise your hand if you would. Not as popular. Okay. Any online? We don't have any online either. We, we warm out.

  7. Committee chair2:13:29

     Let me come back to Senator Stratton, bring it to the committee now.

  8. Sen. Keven J. Stratton2:13:35

     Thank you Chair. I, I would like to move, uh, HB 30 for substitute wildlife management area amendments favorable recommendation.

  9. Committee chair2:13:43

     I'd like to speak to that. Please, Please go ahead and speak to that.

  10. Sen. Keven J. Stratton2:13:46

      Thank you. Uh, there's something remarkable, uh, in this legislation that I, I really compliment the sponsor. He is worked hard to work with and been a great person and great, uh, to work together on this. But there's something important here that I think is a powerful principle. One is education and, and one is service, and one is also free will offering what we're giving the opportunity for our, our citizens to do, rather than plop down two $20 bills is giving and promoting education in the video. And that's a big thing right now because one of the things we've, we've lost a lot of participation in some of our, our, uh, community organizations have done a great job, uh, educating about proper stewardship in the public and our public lands, the Boy Scouts of America, for example. So this video, this education piece is, is very, very important. And the, the notion as we serve, I I want to compliment our, the, our Utah hunters, uh, for their engagement and service. But what this does is opens up other, other doors for others to serve and take ownership. And, and when you, when you it, it's, it's one thing to send something at, put a check or send something money, but when you put your time and effort and, and skin on where the rubber hits the road, that's a powerful thing. And I, I have a great hope. I love the notion of our, our, the, the outdoor users, our bikers, uh, uh, that, uh, we we're going to raise a generation of trained, dedicated, uh, citizens in a wonderful way. That's what this opens up the door. I also think it's very important, the wildlife aspect to educate in that space to, uh, we, we have and we all value it. And by the way, our wildlife costs, just like our water is owned by the people. So it gives us, gives us an opportunity to be more sensitive where, and, and there are times that we want, we need certainly times that we need to have greater sensitivity to, to interfering and pushing our wildlife when, when that during, during certainly the winter range times. So for those reasons, I, I just think this is a great place. Sorry to go so long, but, uh, just wanted to offer that.

  11. Unknown speaker2:16:31speaker not certain

      Thank you. Thank you, man. I know you were very involved in this, so Yeah. Should have saved that from the floor. I I wanted you to hear it. You're generally asleep over there, so that sank. You Sounded like Bedtime. Oh, didn't,

  12. Committee chair2:16:47

      Thank you, Senator. Okay. Is there further, uh, discussion of, to the motion to favorably recommend?

  13. Unknown speaker2:16:57speaker not certain

      Okay. Um, I, I just would like to say just a little bit on that education piece. You know, restricting a place where you close the road for a while, 60, 90 days, whatever. That's one thing that's frustrating if you thought you were driving. But if there's a video that says this is fawning season for, you know, whatever you have to do. I know every place is different now. I think you get a win-win and all the other things that just mentioned. So thank you. All right.

  14. Committee chair2:17:23

      Um, that's the other, so can you use summation? Uh, Well waive. Thank you. Okay, Senator, uh, summation. Senator. I think I'll every, I already had him waived, so I already, I let him sum use summation earlier. So let me place the motion.

  15. Committee chair2:17:37

      All in favor of, uh, passing out first substitute house Bill 30 indicate by saying aye. Aye. Aye. And opposed any say nay? Okay. Rule it passage unanimously. Thank you.

• Feb 18, 2026 Senate floor debate (day 29)▶ Watch
  Transcript (15 turns)

  1. Rep. David Shallenberger1:08:24

     uh, natural na uh, division Wildlife Resources, uh, comprehensive bill in that, uh, it impacts primarily the, uh, counties. The first and second class. What was done in that piece of legislation is it created a used fee to acce, uh, have access and crossover wildlife management area. We have several throughout the state. They're there to protect wildlife and particularly in times of winter and other times when, uh, they need that area to not, uh, be, uh, impacted for their birthing and so forth. In the spring, the main focus of the, of the agency was to make sure we're doing a better job educating and, uh, it was met with a lot of concern with the traditional users. And this bill, rather than charging a fee educates there's a, in these areas, uh, there'll be a educational piece created, which is very important for the care and quality of our public lands and, and how we care for them. And the wildlife that goes along. The beautiful treasures we have here as a state education piece, uh, to watch a video, to to get a certification and then also a donation piece. Those would like to donate and, uh, if they donate to a certain level, be matched levels consistent with what it'd be for a fishing license. Hunting license be matched. Uh, we'll have some matching money coming federally as well, but also allows service opportunities for individuals to participate in the improvement of our public lands and resources. Really good. Uh, Blanding in a really good place. Be glad to answer any questions.

  2. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:10:21

     Sponsor is open questions. Discussion to the bill. Seeing none, this is the most boring time up here. Senator Stratton back to you.

  3. Sen. Keven J. Stratton1:10:32

     I'll waive summation and and move that. Uh, HB 30 Be read for the third time. The motion is shall first substitute house bill 30 Be read a third time. Roll call vote.

  4. Unknown speaker1:10:44speaker not certain

     Senator Spery le aye. Brammer bus Aye. Colmore es Camilla Fillmore Aye. On Grover Harper kins Aye. Ipson Aye. Johnson Aye. Juab McKay Mikel Milner Aye. Musman Owens Aye. Pitcher Lum rebe Aye. Sandal Stevenson Stratton Aye. Stickers? Er aye. Wilson. Aye. Winterton

  5. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:11:41

     President Adams First substitute house bill 30. Having received 20 yay votes, one na vote eight being absent shall be read a third time. Senator Wilson.

  6. Sen. Chris H. Wilson1:11:54

     Thank you Mr. President Pro Temp a motion that we table on third first substitute house bill 30 for physical impact. The motion is to table on third first substitute house Bill 30.

  7. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:12:04

     All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. The bill is tabled on third first substitute house Bill 37. First Substitute house bill 37 Used Oil Management Act amendments.

  8. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:12:19

     Senator Stratton. Senator Stratton.

  9. Sen. Keven J. Stratton1:12:21

     Thank you Mr. President Pro Tem. This is a piece of legislation that was worked on over the interim and, uh, passed through our, uh, natural Resource access environment, uh, interim committee. What we're doing here is increasing the recycling fee on the sale of lubricating oil starting in July, 2026, granting rule making authority, division of waste management and radiation control. To set the recycling fee beginning on July 1st with approval and parameters, uh, recommended by our state tax commission, clarifies that the vision may use grant funding to hire permitted transporters as part of the curbside used oil collection program. Also covers technical conforming changes. Glad to answer any questions To the bill.

  10. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:13:15

      Seeing no discussion. Senator Stratton back to you.

  11. Sen. Keven J. Stratton1:13:18

      Thank you. I'll waive summation and move that HB 37 be read for a third time. The question is, shall HB 37 be read a third time Roll call vote.

  12. Unknown speaker1:13:27speaker not certain

      Senator Vickers Baldry Lewin Aye. Bramer bus Colmore Escamia Fillmore Aye. Grover Harper Kins Aye. Ipson Johnson Juab McKay Aye. Mikel Milner Musselman Owens Pitcher Plum Rebi Sandal Stevenson Stratton Aye. Bickers er aye. Wilson Winterton Aye.

  13. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:14:21

      President Adams First substitute house Bill 37. Having received 19 yay votes, two na votes, eight being absent. Shall read a third time? First substitute House Bill 61st Substitute House Bill 60 Water Rights Amendments.

  14. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:14:40

      Senator Stratton. Senator Stratton.

  15. Sen. Keven J. Stratton1:14:43

      Thank you Mr. President Pro Tem House Bill 60 deals with the process.

• Mar 4, 2026 Senate floor debate (day 43)▶ Watch
  Transcript (15 turns)

  1. Sen. Keven J. Stratton4:02:14

     Thank you Mr. President. This is one, uh, bill that we passed and, uh, got to this point and held it as fiscal note, but we had a good discussion before. But just a reminder, the intent of this bill's increased user participation, financial de donations, uh, for, for, uh, non-profits. Uh, appreciate the, the man. Am I doing the right one? Yes. What Wildlife Management Amendments, uh, what we're, what we're doing here is we're creating an education opportunity on our public lens for our WMAs. The hundreds have done a great job, uh, working to preserve these sanctuaries for our wildlife. It really contributes to our, our wildlife resources that we have that, that are, that are really, uh, uh, the gold standard here in the state of Utah. But as it relates to WMAs, uh, there's an education piece, uh, that, that helps top to bottom, side to side with our public lands as well as making opportunities to contribute to, to volunteer and, uh, also contribute financially if they would like to. But it's the education piece rather than being required to have a license to access. With that, I'll yield

  2. President of the Senate (presiding)4:03:46

     See no discussion. Senator Stratton To the bill to go ahead. I need a motion.

  3. Sen. Keven J. Stratton4:03:51

     Thank you. Um, motion is that we pass. First substitute house Bill 30.

  4. President of the Senate (presiding)4:03:59

     Thank you. And the question is, under suspension of the rules shall first substitute House Bill 30 pass. Roll call vote.

  5. Senate clerk (roll call)4:04:05

     Senator Vickers. Spery. Lewin Aye. Brammer plus Comore. Escamia Aye. Fillmore Aye. Grover a Harper? Aye. Kinins Kinins Ipson Johnson Juab McKay Mikel Milner Musselman Musman Owens pitcher Plum. This will be 46 that re considered Sandal Stevenson. Stevenson Stratton Betcha. Yes. Bickers. Bickers Er. Bill Wilson Winterton.

  6. President of the Senate (presiding)4:05:13

     President Adams Aye. First substitute house Bill 30. Having received 28 yay votes. One nay vote, zero being absent passes this body and will be returned, will be signed by the present. Return to the house for the signature of the speaker.

  7. President of the Senate (presiding)4:05:30

     Senator Balderree. Senator Balderree.

  8. Sen. Balderree4:05:41

     Motion To take leave of the body to, uh, change my vote on The on House bill. Was it 32 third substitute house bill 32?

  9. President of the Senate (presiding)4:05:53

     Yes. Again, it won't change the outcome. So the Yes. Leave of the body. Your vote was, and it's changing too? No. Do you wanna change your vote to No. On, on third substitute house Bill 32. Do we have, uh, discussion? Senator Weiler? I wanna do some of those so we don't, uh, without objection. All those in favor? Just so I have a, an indication. Say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. So we'll make that change. Senator Baldry.

  10. Sen. Balderree4:06:21speaker not certain

      Senator Weiler, I'd like To move, leave the Vote.

  11. President of the Senate (presiding)4:06:27

      House Bill 5 97. Uh, Senator Stevenson's Last alcohol Bill, Any objection to that? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Roll that motion. They Okay, we'll we'll make that change. Thank Senator Weiler, I need you to repeat that again. We didn't get you on the record.

  12. Sen. Chris Weiler4:06:43

      It was, I believe House Bill 5 97.

  13. President of the Senate (presiding)4:06:48

      You wanna change your vote from what to what? Uh,

  14. Sen. Todd Weiler4:06:50

      From no vote. I'd like to be recorded as an aye. Wanted to record as an aye vote. Wanted to make sure we were clear on that. Thank you.

  15. President of the Senate (presiding)4:06:56

      Uh, any objection with that? Objection? We'll go ahead and make that change. Thank You. Uh, let's try to get through the fiscal bills. I don't think we're gonna make it tonight, but we'll try a couple of more.

All votes

• 8-0-6House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · House Comm - Substitute Recommendation · Jan 23, 2026Roll call
• 9-0-5House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · House Comm - Amendment Recommendation · Jan 23, 2026Roll call
• 8-1-5House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · House Comm - Favorable Recommendation · Jan 23, 2026Roll call
• 58-11-6House floor · House/ passed 3rd reading · Feb 3, 2026Roll call
• 5-0-2Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation · Feb 12, 2026Roll call
• 20-1-8Senate floor · Senate/ passed 2nd reading · Feb 18, 2026Roll call
• 28-1-0Senate floor · Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension · Mar 4, 2026Roll call

Tallies are yeas–nays–absent.