State opens 2,600 acres in East Canyon Wildlife Management Area to the public

State officials conducted a ribbon cutting ceremony for 2,600 acres Utah has added to the East Canyon Wildlife Management Area on Sept. 30. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Division of State Parks, Utah Legislature and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation combined forces to pay for the property. The wildlife management area now totals 6,200 acres.

State officials first told the Morgan County Commission they were working on the land purchase back in April.

“This purchase is important to further enhance public outdoor access,” Hailey Blair UDWR wildlife specialist told the Morgan County Commission April 16. “These improvements will align with the collective goal of providing a diverse range of outdoor enthusiasts with ample opportunities to connect with nature, fostering a greater appreciation for the expansive beauty that this land has to offer.”

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation became involved when it was informed of a funding shortfall on the project this spring, RMEF President and CEO Kyle Weaver said in a press release. “We are in a unique position to fill this kind of timely need, so we did. Understanding the importance of this project to elk and mule deer, our board of directors called a special meeting where it approved the project within just days of learning about it. We’re grateful to our DWR partners and the private landowner for making this happen.”  

With the purchase, DWR will manage 2,200 acres and add it to its wildlife management area. State Parks will manage the remaining 400 acres and has plans to provide more public access to the area by creating a new campground with 50 to 70 campsites,

“We’re very appreciative to the state’s hunters and all of the partners who helped provide the funding that made it possible to purchase this property,” DWR Director J Shirley said in the press release. “Most of Morgan County is private property, so obtaining this property will be a great benefit to wildlife in the area and will provide additional access for hunters in northern Utah.”  

Much of the impetus for the project came from County Commissioner Blaine Fackrell who participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony along with Commission Chair Mike Newton.

“I had the opportunity to talk and share with them the vision of what we had for the property, and there will be some more discussions on the management,” Fackrell said. “They were not aware of some of the visions that had been thought of with that property, what were our visions.”

Morgan County’s top three visions for the property are recreation, trail access and the state park, he said. “There is some concern that Wildlife may try to just make it another WMA [wildlife management area] and I think we need to make sure that access stays open. I would really love to see access for motor vehicles, ATVs and such. We lack that so much and that’s part of the discussion they would like to have.”

The new addition is now open to the public but to protect wildlife, only walk-in traffic and those on horseback or on bicycles, are allowed. Motorized traffic, including class 2 and class 3 e-bikes, are not allowed on the property. Currently, there is no parking area on the newly acquired property. 

“If you visit the newly acquired area this fall, there won’t be any room to park,” DWR Northern Region Habitat Manager Daniel Olson said in the press release. “We obtained the additional property in July and have not been able to develop a parking area for it yet. There are two parking areas on the original part of the WMA – located just west of the newly acquired portion – but they’ll likely get very crowded, very fast this fall.”

The whole wildlife management area will be open until Jan. 1 when it will close until the second Saturday in April to protect wintering wildlife. λ