Watch the sky turn white
See as many as 20,000 snow geese
Delta -- It’s a sight you have to see to believe: thousands of snow and Ross’ geese lifting off Gunnison Bend Reservoir amid honks and the beating of wings.
You can see this spectacle yourself on Feb. 22 and 23 as the Delta Chamber of Commerce hosts the annual Delta Snow Goose Festival.
Part of the festival includes a snow goose viewing event offered by the Division of Wildlife Resources. The event will be held at Gunnison Bend Reservoir, just west of Delta. Admission is free.
As many as 20,000 geese—mostly snow geese—have been at the reservoir during past festivals. Except for the black tips on their wings, snow geese are pure white.
Phil Tuttle, regional conservation outreach manager for the DWR, says DWR biologists will set spotting scopes up, so you can get a close look at the geese. “We’ll also be available to answer any questions you have,” Tuttle says. “Wildlife watching is a fun activity for the whole family. We encourage you to come out and see the spectacle.”
You can learn more about the festival at www.deltagoosefestival.com.
The best times to see the geese
The areas where you’ll see the geese vary according to the time of the day.
If you arrive in Delta early in the morning, you can watch the geese feeding in fields that surround the reservoir. Then, between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., the geese take off and fly back to the reservoir. “That’s an exciting time to be at the reservoir,” Tuttle says.
After landing on the reservoir, the geese usually spend the next few hours there. Then, sometime between 4 and 6 p.m., they take off again and fly back to the fields. “Watching and hearing the geese take off can take your breath away,” Tuttle says.
DWR biologists will watch which fields the geese fly to. If you arrive after the geese have left the reservoir, the biologists will direct you to the fields where the geese are feeding.
Viewing tips
· Use binoculars or a spotting scope to view the geese. If you get too close to the geese, you could scare them away.
· If you pull off the road to view the geese, pull as far off the road as you can. And watch for cars.
· The weather could be cold and wet. Bring the proper clothes so you can stay warm and dry.
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PHOTOS - 29 photos to accompany this story are available at https://udwrnewsphotos.zenfolio.com/p653846534 .
Contact: Phil Tuttle, DWR Southern Region Conservation Outreach Manager, 435-590-7018 or 435-865-6100
Time is running out
Big game hunt applications due by March 7
If you want to hunt big game animals in Utah this fall, the clock is ticking. Applications for hunting permits are due no later than 11 p.m. on March 7.
The best way to apply is at www.wildlife.utah.gov/biggame.
Once you arrive at the web page, you’ll find all kinds of information that will help you decide which permits to apply for. And, once you’ve made your decision, you can apply at the page.
Lindy Varney, wildlife licensing coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says maps, drawing odds from 2018 and the success hunters found on various units last fall are among the items you’ll find on the web page. Access to the free 2019 Utah Big Game Application Guidebook is also available at the page.
“The page is a great resource that will help you narrow down which hunts you want to apply for,” she says. “I hope you’ll submit your application no later than March 7. Good luck in this year’s draw.”
In addition to applying for a permit, if you’d like a chance to hunt all three general deer seasons, Varney encourages you to consider joining Utah’s Dedicated Hunter program. You can learn more about the program, and how to join it, at www.wildlife.utah.gov/dh.
The Utah Hunt Planner
When you’re thinking about hunting in a new area—or going after a species you’ve never hunted before—you likely have a lot of questions. The Utah Hunt Planner, an interactive, online map tool, gives you in-depth, hunter-focused information about all of Utah’s hunts. Use it when you’re researching hunts you want to apply for—or use it after you draw a permit for a particular hunt—and learn the best spots to find animals, what the terrain is like in that area, if there’s a lot of public land in the unit and where the best access points are located.
DWR biologists keep the Hunt Planner up to date with the details you care about. (Note: The Hunt Planner works best on a desktop or laptop computer.)
You can view the planner at www.wildlife.utah.gov/huntplanner.
More information
If you have questions about applying for a 2019 Utah big game hunting permit, call the Utah Hunt Application office at 1-800-221-0659 or the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office.
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Apply for a bear hunting permit
Feb. 25 is the last day to apply
Don't let the cold weather fool you; Utah's spring black bear hunt will start in about two months.
If you'd like to hunt bears during the spring, summer or fall seasons, you need to apply soon. Applications are due at www.wildlife.utah.gov no later than 11 p.m. on Feb. 25.
Applications for a bear pursuit permit are also due at the same time. (Pursuit permits allow you to pursue bears with hounds, but you may not take the bears you pursue.)
Results of the 2019 Utah black bear draw will be available by March 6.
Free guidebook
More information about hunting black bears in Utah is available in the 2019 Utah Black Bear Guidebook. Printed copies likely won't be available until the end of the application period, but you can download a copy of the free guidebook right now at www.wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks.
Apply for a bonus point
If you're not going to hunt or pursue bears in 2019, you can still apply for a bonus point. Bonus points increase the chance you'll draw a bear permit in the future.
Applications for bonus points will also be accepted at www.wildlife.utah.gov until 11 p.m. on Feb. 25.
More information
If you have questions about applying for a 2019 Utah black bear hunting permit, call the Utah Hunt Application office at 1-800-221-0659 or the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office.
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Stream treatment plans for High Uintas Wilderness
Project will help Colorado River cutthroat trout
Vernal -- Colorado River cutthroat trout are a fish prized across Utah. And a great place to catch them is the High Uinta Wilderness in the Uinta Mountains in the northeastern part of the state.
Unfortunately, habitat loss, coupled with cutthroats breeding with and competing with trout not native to the western United States, have caused dramatic declines in cutthroat trout populations across the West. That, in turn, has led to concerns about the species' future. To reduce the chance that cutthroats are listed under the Endangered Species Act, biologists with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and the U.S. Forest Service are planning to treat waters in the High Uintas Wilderness to remove nonnative fish. Once the nonnative fish are removed, cutthroat trout will be reintroduced to the streams and lakes.
A final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for this proposed project has been prepared and will soon be available for public review. The document reviews potential effects to users and resources in the proposed project area and evaluates whether the project should proceed. If approved, the project will remove nonnative brook trout in four drainages on the South Slope of the Uinta Mountains. The treatments would occur from 2022 to 2034.
Tonya Kieffer-Selby, regional conservation outreach manager for the DWR, says even with the treatments, anglers will still have hundreds of miles of high Uinta mountain streams to fish for brook trout and other trout species. “Brook trout will still be stocked in many of the same places,” she says, “just not in the four proposed project watersheds.”
Trina Hedrick, regional aquatics manager for the DWR, says for now, biologists will focus their initial efforts on the Sheep Creek drainage on the North Slope of the Uintas. Even though the proposed projects for the South Slope wouldn’t start until 2022, she says it’s time to start the planning process. “Logistically,” she says, “the treatments will be very challenging.”
How treatments will occur
Once the EIS is finalized, the DWR, in partnership with the Ashley National Forest, will chemically treat designated streams—and a few lakes—with rotenone. The treatment will remove brook trout that have established themselves in the proposed project area.
Rotenone is a natural substance that comes from the roots of a tropical plant in the bean family. It’s a piscicide (substance poisonous to fish), but it’s not dangerous to people, pets or other wildlife, especially in the extremely low quantities biologists will use to treat the streams.
After all the treatments are complete, cutthroat trout will be restocked during the fall. Two to three years after the treatment is over, the cutthroats will be big enough for anglers to catch.
Waters to be treated
Here are the proposed project areas including stream miles and lake surface acreage:
● Fall Creek (Rock Creek drainage) -- 8 stream miles and 43 lake acres
● Oweep Creek (Lake Fork drainage) -- 12 stream miles and 3 lake acres
● Ottoson Basin (Lake Fork drainage) -- 5.5 stream miles and 37 lake acres
● Garfield Basin (Yellowstone drainage) -- 13.5 stream miles and 176 lake acres
“We recognize some anglers target these locations for brook trout,” Hedrick says, “but we had to pick large expansive areas that had natural barriers to prevent re-invasion and to ensure cutthroat trout would survive. This is an opportunity to restore Colorado River cutthroat trout in their native range, protect the species in Utah and provide anglers with dedicated areas to fish for them.”
If you have questions about the treatment, call the DWR’s Northeastern Region office at 435-781-9453.
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Fishing reports - available at http://wildlife.utah.gov/hotspots .
