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Show Wildlife Violations By Juveniles on Increase The number of Juvenile wildlife violations has steadily increased in the State of Utah for the last five years. Utah is not alone in this predicament, but it is an area of concern for Division Law Enforcement officials. During the 1975 calendar year, 1,065 juvenile violations were cited in the state. Of that number, 43 were federal cases dealing with offenses committed on federally controlled land. The remaining 1,022 were citations issued by the Division of Wildlife Resources Law Enforcement Section. The largest single violation during the year was Ashing without a license. In that category, 250 violators were apprehended. The second most frequent violation was taking migratory birds before or after legal shooting hours. One hundred and fifty-five (155) such violations were written. Other frequently violated regulations in 1975 included taking game without a license on person (75), having a loaded gun in a vehicle (50), Juveniles hunting without adult supervision (46), taking swans without a permit (45), hunting migratory birds with an improperly plugged gun (44) and hunting without a license (42). The frequency of Incident has risen sharply in the last five years. In 1971, for example, only 474 Juvenile wildlife violations were cited. In 1972 there were 550. In 1973, 619 cases were totaled and in 1974 the figure was 706. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Law Enforcement Chief, John Nagel, summarized the growing problem, "The age group encompassing 'juveniles' has a lot of time to spend out of doors, certainly much more than most adults. Because of that, many juveniles get out to hunt and fish without adult supervision. There are too many kids that don't take the time to learn about the regulations that are necessary in today's wildlife programs. I think those are some of the reasons for the increase in juvenile violations." Nagel also said that the only readily apparent solution to the problem is for parents to be more aware of their children's activities and to take the time to provide them with the proper supervision. |