Juab County commissioners have agreed to support the Utah Trappers Association Inc. on five recommendations the group is making to the state wildlife board and the governor.
Commissioners will send a letter to the governor and to the state board asking them to support the group's requests.Herb Carter, treasurer for the group and a Nephi resident, said those requests include:
- An increase of bobcat tags available to the individual harvester from last year's five to eight tags.
Carter said the trappers think the bobcat population is large and strong enough to support a larger increase than this, but think eight tags is a reasonable offer. "A three-tag increase does not mean every harvester will take three more cats, but rather, it will allow that small percentage of harvesters who have the ability to do so to have the opportunity to attempt to harvest three more cats," said Carter.
- A simplified and streamlined season for fur bearers. The season on all fur bearers, with the exception of bobcat, would open Oct. 15 with the bobcat season opening Nov. 25. The season would end Feb. 15 except on beaver and mink, which could be trapped through April 23.
- Opening the entire state to marten trapping while continuing the study of marten.
- Removing the deer herd unit number from the bobcat tag because the information is not being used currently.
- Changing the fur bearer license from a yearly to a seasonal license. "This would remove the need for a fur harvester to buy a new license in the middle of the season," said Carter.