Utah ranked second in assaults on conservation officers last year, according to a report issued by the Department of Interior earlier this week.
Virginia topped the list with an assault rate of 4.9 percent. Utah followed with 3.8 percent of the state's conservation officers suffering attacks or threats from alleged game law violators, Interior officials said.Nationally, 128 of 9,183 wildlife officers were attacked last year. Twenty-eight received injuries and two of them died. The Fish and Wildlife Service reported only one federal agent being attacked during the year.
Most attacks came when officers were confronting violators without a warrant. Confrontations were also common during routine hunting and fishing license checks.