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Show Big Game Control Meetings Sportsmen have two important dates coming up-, up-, one that everyone remembers and one that almost no one marks on their calendar. Saturday, May 31, is the opening of general fishing season in Utah and that's the date everyone remembers. The date that most sportsmen sport-smen forget is the date of the Board of Big Game Control meetings, often referred to as the "public meetings". The date to remember this year is June 2. f The Board of Big Game I Control (B of BGC) schedules public meetings in ; five or six different Utah i cities each year and cons' con-s' ducts an open meeting regarding the setting of big f game seasons for that year, i The southern Utah meeting g for 1980 will be held in Cedar j City, Monday, June 2, 1980 at 7 p.m. in the Cedar City High School Auditorium. ' Everyone interested in Wildlife is invited to attend. I Other public meetings are f; scheduled in Ogden, Mt. Pleasant, Price, Roosevelt t and Salt Lake City. S Utah's B of BGC is a unique wildlife management board, as its responsibilities pertian only to big game animals, their seasons and management. The Board is made . up of representatives represen-tatives from the Division of Wildlife Resources (Division Director who acts as chairman), a representative from the Regional office of teh U.S. Forest Service, and representatives from sportsmen, cattlemen and woolgrowers associations. Board members are appointed ap-pointed by theGovernor with the advice and consent of the Senate to a four-year term. At the public meetings the Board presents information regarding condition of herds, population trends, forage use and management recommendations for establishing hunting seasons and management plans. Opportunity is also provided for input from the audience. Following their tour of the State, Board members meet in an executive session held in Salt Lake City to discuss the findings and recommendations recom-mendations of the Interagency In-teragency committee (which is responsible for biological data gathering and makes recommendations recom-mendations for local herds), and the input gathered from the public meetings. Weighing the facts, the feelings and the expertise of their experience with wildlife, the Board then drafts a proclamation for the legal hunting seasons in accordance with legislative authority and direction. B of BGC meetings are important to the sporting public because they provide the public with a chance to learn, first-hand, how big game seasons are set, the basis for making those decisions and their opportunity op-portunity to participate in the process. This is the public's primary opportunity op-portunity to be involved in setting big game seasons. Sportsmen ' should plan to attend and participate. Additional information regarding B of BGC meetings can be obtained from the Southern Regional Office, Division of Wildlife Resources, 622 North Main Street, Cedar City, Utah 84720 (Telephone 586-2455). |