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Update:
As of March 4, there are now four wildlife board positions that members of the public can apply for, rather than three. The deadline is still March 31 at 5 p.m. The news release has since been updated to reflect those changes.
Interested in deciding how wildlife is managed in Utah? Apply for a position on the Utah Wildlife Board in 2025
Salt Lake City — The group that makes the final decisions about hunting, fishing and how wildlife is managed in Utah has four positions to fill, and members of the public who have an interest in wildlife are encouraged to apply.
Randy Dearth, the current chairperson of the Utah Wildlife Board, will end his 6-year term in August 2025.
The terms for the four positions on the Utah Wildlife Board will begin in August 2025, and will replace Randy Dearth — the current chairperson of the board — Wade Heaton, Bret Selman and Bryce Thurgood. The governor appoints members to the seven-person board, but any resident of Utah can submit an application for consideration.
"To serve on the board, you need to have a strong interest in wildlife and wildlife management in Utah," Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Wildlife Board Coordinator Staci Coons said. "You also need to be committed to serving and representing the people of Utah."
To help manage wildlife in the state, the DWR has divided Utah into five regions. State law requires that every region have at least one representative on the board. The open positions are for the following areas:
- Someone living in the Northeastern Region.
- Someone living in the Northern Region.
- Two of the open positions can be filled by anyone living in any region.
You can find the regional boundaries on the DWR website.
Three of the board members the governor appoints will serve for one six-year term. The other new board member — the one replacing Bryce Thurgood — will serve for eight years (completing the remaining two years of Thurgood's term and then serving a full six-year term).
The application period for the open wildlife board positions opened Jan. 1 and runs until March 31 at 5 p.m. The fourth position did not open until March 4, and applicants from the Northern Region who already applied for one of the open positions may be considered for the eight-year term and do not need to reapply specifically for the Northern Region position.
Applicants are not required to have a college degree, but they do need to list any organizations or associations they have been a member of for the previous five years. You can apply for one of the open positions at the Utah Boards and Commissions website.
Utah Wildlife Board members are encouraged to attend the public Wildlife Regional Advisory Council meetings in their respective regions and will also attend roughly six public wildlife board meetings in Farmington each year. The positions are unpaid, and members of the board do not become employees of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
The Utah Wildlife Board Nominating Committee — an 11-member committee appointed by the governor — will review the applications and select candidates to interview. Then, the committee will forward its recommendations to the governor, who will make the final decision about who fills the four vacancies.
To learn more about the Utah Wildlife Board and the Wildlife Regional Advisory Council, visit the DWR website.
