For more information, visit the Division of Wildlife Resources Web site.

WILDLIFE IS VALUABLE to everyone. Whether you hunt, fish or just appreciate the beauty and importance of Utah's wild animals, wildlife matters.

Buck mule deer with velvet still on their antlers

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is the trustee and guardian of Utah's Wildlife. Our goal is to expand wildlife populations and conserve sensitive species by protecting and improving wildlife habitat.

We want to pass along our wildlife heritage to future generations, and we want it to be in better shape that when it was passed to us. We also actively work to preserve Utah's important hunting and fishing heritage in a way that benefits wildlife and Utah citizens alike.

Diverse, abundant wildlife

The DWR receives national recognition for its wildlife management, world-class fisheries and variety of non-game species. Recently, the division has:

• Performed wildlife transplants, including turkeys, sage-grouse, bison, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, pronghorn, ferrets and river otters
• Worked to protect sensitive species — such as the native cutthroat trout — and prevent federal listing under the Endangered Species Act
• Helped create a new wildlife foundation to focus on Utah’s non-game wildlife such as ferrets, otters and eagles
• Stocked hundreds of thousands of pounds of fish raised in division hatcheries

American pelicans

High quality habitat

The Division's innovative habitat program leads North America in restoration efforts. Recently, we have:

• Partnered with multiple agencies to help rehabilitate hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat burned by wildfires
• Completed 86 cooperative watershed restoration projects, restoring 73,796 acres throughout Utah
• Secured the protection of the Little Hole area, a renowned blue-ribbon trout fishery on the Green River
• Reclaimed 1,300 acres of Great Salt Lake wetlands by controlling phragmites, an invasive plant

Pronghorn antelope round-up

Employees

The DWR strives to be a highly effective, science-based agency with deep connections to the citizens of Utah. DWR employees are highly trained and experienced professionals who enjoy and appreciate wildlife. We hunt, fish and watch wildlife — just like all Utahns. Currently, the DWR employs about 400 wildlife experts — many of whom set a goal of working here from a young age.

Organization

As a division of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, we coordinate our goals, objectives and activities with the other divisions in the department.

Rocky Mountain goat

The director of the DWR reports directly to the executive director of Natural Resources. The Utah Wildlife Board is appointed by the Governor and serves as the board of directors for the DWR. After receiving input from the DWR and the public through a series of statewide regional public meetings (RAC meetings), the Wildlife Board sets general wildlife policies for the state.

The DWR is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, but is divided into five geographic regions, with offices in each, that cover the entire state. Most on-the-ground work is handled in the regions and coordinated from the administrative offices in Salt Lake City.

The division is also divided into sections that specialize in various wildlife-related issues: fisheries, game animals, habitat, law enforcement, etc.

Currently, the director of the DWR is Jim Karpowitz. Cindee Jensen and Alan Clark are assistant directors.