In 2025, lawmakers passed controversial H.B. 309, requiring anyone 18 or older to carry a valid Utah hunting, fishing, or combination license to enter a wildlife management area in a first- or second-class county. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources says the rule currently applies to Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, and Weber counties, and it applies even to people using those areas for hiking, biking, wildlife watching, and photography.
Now lawmakers want to replace that license-only system. H.B. 30 would still allow access with a hunting, fishing, or combination license, but it would also create a free digital access permit for adults who complete an online educational video. The bill phases in starting on July 1, 2026, in first- and second-class counties, expands on July 1, 2027, to first- through fourth-class counties, and reaches all counties on July 1, 2028, if enacted.
The reason for the rewrite is simple. The 2025 law required recreational users to buy a hunting or fishing license just to enter certain WMAs. That decision did not go over well.
H.B. 30 is the Legislature’s attempt to keep an access requirement in place while giving those users another path in.
What the Current Law Does
H.B. 309 is already the baseline in Utah. The enrolled bill says a person 18 or older may not enter the covered portion of a wildlife management area in a first- or second-class county unless that person holds a valid hunting, fishing, or combination license, has permission from the division, or has a property right allowing access.
Utah DWR’s current access page says that the law is in effect in Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, and Weber counties.
What H.B. 30 Would Change
H.B. 30 would replace the license-only framework with a broader access system. Under the bill, adults could enter covered WMAs with a qualifying hunting or fishing license, a combination license, a digital access permit, or other authorization recognized by the division.
The bill also requires the state to provide an online educational video free of charge and issue a digital permit after the user completes the video and acknowledges that access may be seasonal or subject to wildlife-related closures.
The bill also makes clear that the digital permit does not replace licenses or permits required for regulated activities. If an activity otherwise requires a hunting license, fishing license, permit, cooperative agreement, or certificate of registration, the user still has to hold that authorization.
There are several exemptions. The bill says the permit-or-license requirement would not apply to someone traveling on a highway or road that crosses a WMA, using a trail that begins and ends outside a WMA, participating in an educational program, visiting an education or visitor center, or recovering livestock from adjacent authorized grazing land.
Why Lawmakers Reworked the Rule
The 2025 law drew serious backlash because it forced some non-hunting users to buy a hunting or fishing license just to access certain wildlife management areas. Lawmakers revisited the rule after acknowledging opposition from hikers, bikers, birders, and other non-hunting users who objected to having to buy a hunting or fishing license just to access certain wildlife management areas, including heavily used Wasatch Front properties.
H.B. 30 does not remove the access gate altogether. It changes the gate from license-only to either a license or a free digital permit.
A Loss for Hunters and Anglers
For hunters and anglers, the issue isn’t just access. It’s who keeps paying for it. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources says wildlife management areas are primarily funded by sales of Utah hunting, fishing, and combination licenses, along with federal excise taxes paid on hunting and fishing equipment.
State taxes typically do not pay for them. That means hunters and anglers are still carrying much of the financial burden for acquiring, managing, and improving lands that are also used by hikers, bikers, birders, and photographers.
What Happens Next
H.B. 30 has passed the Legislature and been sent to the governor. Legislative tracking shows the enrolled bill’s last action on March 12, 2026, as “to Governor.” Until that changes, Utah’s current 2025 license requirement remains the law reflected on the state’s WMA access page.
If signed, H.B. 30 would replace that current rule with a license-or-free-digital-permit system that expands beyond the four counties already covered and eventually applies statewide by 2028.
Read the full article here