Section R657-43-9 - Limited Entry Landowner Association Program Permit Vouchers - Availability and Eligibility(1)(a) Landowners in a limited entry unit may join together to form a Landowner Association for participation in the Limited Entry Landowner Association Permit program.(b) To qualify as a Landowner Association, participating Landowners must:(i) own more than 50% of the Private Lands that are Eligible Property within the limited entry herd unit;(ii) form a Landowner Association;(iii) limit participation to Private Lands within a limited entry hunt unit serving as habitat for that species; and(iv) the president of the Landowner Association must participate in a division training annually.(2) The division will establish the number of Limited Entry Landowner Association Program Permits available on an annual basis by:(a) identifying the number of total permits in a unit for the previous hunt year;(b) identifying the total acreage of Private Land in a unit enrolled in the Landowner Association;(c) calculating the percentage of habitat in the unit represented by the Landowner Association by dividing the habitat acreage represented by the Landowner Association by the habitat acreage in the whole unit;(d) applying that percentage to the total number of available public draw permits from the previous year to determine the number of Limited Entry Landowner Association Program Permit Vouchers to be allocated to the Landowner Association;(e) applying standard rounding will be practiced when determining permit numbers - .49 rounds down and .5 rounds up; and(f) an approved Landowner Association that qualifies for less than one permit voucher every year will receive one permit voucher the first year after approval.(3) To form a Landowner Association, Landowners must:(b) enter into Governing Documents signed by all participating Landowners that: (i) agree to the formation of a Landowner Association for the purposes of participating in the program;(ii) establish membership qualifications;(iii) identify any yearly dues, if any, necessary to participate and how those funds will be utilized;(iv) establish a distribution plan for allocating Vouchers or revenue from Vouchers to members;(v) describe the process for adding and removing members in a fair and impartial process;(vi) describe how the Landowner Association will provide notice of upcoming meetings and how members can participate;(vii) establish how voting and decisions on behalf of the Landowner Association will be made;(viii) establish rules and guidelines outlining permit holder conduct on Landowner Association property;(ix) describe how the Landowner Association will complete compliance requirements for the program;(x) describe how the members will elect a president to represent the landowner association and the president's length of term;(xi) include a written waiver from each participating Landowner of all depredation claims due to big game damage during the term of such Landowner's membership in the Landowner Association;(xii) if option 1, Subsection R657-43-9(5)(a) is chosen include a written agreement from each participating member to allow free public access onto all participating Landowner's Private Lands as required by Subsections R657-43-5(5) and R657-43-5(6); and(xiii) other items deemed necessary and appropriate to administer the Landowner Association.(4) Limitations on the eligibility of Private Lands in Landowner Associations:(a) Private Lands enrolled in a Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit for the same species are not eligible to participate in a Landowner Association under this rule;(b) Public and state lands are not eligible to be included in a Landowner Association;(c) Only Private Lands that qualify as Eligible Property will be considered for Limited Entry Landowner Permits;(d) Only one Landowner Association, per species, may be formed for each limited entry unit; and(e) A Landowner or Landowner Association may not restrict legally established passage through Private Land to access public lands for hunting.(5) A Landowner Association may choose one of two Voucher options during the term of its certificate of registration: (a) Option 1: (i) The Landowner Association will be issued Vouchers valid for the entire limited entry hunting unit;(ii) an equivalent number of public hunters to the number of Vouchers received by the Landowner Association shall be provided complete access to hunt all Landowner Association's Private Lands at no charge for the species during the season dates identified on the Limited Entry Landowner Association Permit; and(iii) the division will notify the lowest draw numbers of public hunters in that unit who will be given access to the Landowner Association's Private Lands pursuant to this section.(b) Option 2: (i) The Landowner Association will be issued Vouchers valid only for Private Lands enrolled in the Landowner Association; (ii) the number of Vouchers allocated to a Landowner Association will be calculated using the formula in Subsection (2), rounded up to the nearest whole number.(c) Limited Entry Landowner Association Program Permit Vouchers are not valid for: (i) multi-season hunting opportunities;(ii) private land not enrolled in the Landowner Association; or(iii) late season limited entry buck deer permits on a general season unit.(6)(a) Public draw permit holders specified in Subsection (5)(a) will have access to all enrolled Landowner Association lands for the entirety of the hunt.(b)(i) The Landowner Association will be responsible for ensuring those public draw permit holders identified in Subsection (5)(a) are given access to all private lands; and(ii) Landowner Associations may determine how to disperse public hunters by seasons. If all public hunters are in one season it will be the any-weapon season.(c) The Landowner Association must provide a written copy of its guidelines used to regulate a permit holder's conduct as a guest on the Landowner Association land. These guidelines will go through the RAC and Wildlife Board process to ensure they are fair and reasonable.(7) Performance metrics will be established by the division, with recommendations from the Landowner Association Advisory Committee, to determine if the purposes of the program are being met.Utah Admin. Code R657-43-9
Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2015-5, effective 2/9/2015Repealed by Utah State Bulletin Number 2022-24, effective 12/8/2022Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2024-04, effective 2/7/2024Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2024-17, effective 8/21/2024