A hunter convicted of wildlife violations in one Western state could lose hunting privileges in all 13, a Utah Wildlife Resources Division law enforcement official says.
"We're getting closer to a cooperative agreement on hunting license revocation," said division spokesman Craig Miya.After returning from a January conference of wildlife law enforcement officers from the 13 Western states and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, Miya said, "all the Western states are in favor" of such an interstate compact.
"Colorado wildlife officials are looking at it very heavily," Miya said, and may introduce a bill in their state Legislature "this year or next year. And Oregon's wildlife board also is pushing this.
"We can revoke a Utah hunter's license for wildlife violations," he said. "But, right now we don't have the capability of stopping him from hunting because he can buy a license in another state. If he doesn't respect our hunting regulations, he probably won't in a neighboring state."
The idea, Miya said, is a cooperative reporting system "like some of the driver's license compacts. It's just a matter of getting it going."
The division has asked the Utah attorney general's office for an opinion on the legality of joining such a compact. If they get the go-ahead, he said, "hopefully we'll have something through the Legislature within three years. We're already too late for this year."