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Show Wildlife Benefits Utah Since 1869 i Utah has benefited greatly from wildlife received from other parts of the world over the years. Since 1869, private citizens, private organizations and the state wildlife agency have attempted, and in many cases succeeded, to 'establish in Utah over 36 species of fish and wildlife not native to the state. Fish, buffalo, quail and pheasants were among the first animals transplanted from other Mates into Utah. The most successful early introductions were several fish species and the ring-necked pheasant In 1870 the Latter-day Saint Convention appointed a committee on fish propagation. This committee worked with the U.S. Fish Commission to increase the food supply of the territory. Many fish species were put into Utah water through this program Some of the introductions were failures, the successful ones include brook, rainbow, brown and lake trout, carp, channel catfish, black bullhead and yellow perch. Introductions of bob-white quail, California quail and pheasants were also made during these early decades Pheasants were an immediate success in the Salt Lake Valley due to the numerous small agricultural fields. As early as 1894, the Territorial Legislature granted the pheasant protection from overhunting. Attempts to increase the variety of furbearers in Utah failed. The nutria and dark muskrat both disappeared shortly after private individuals introduced them into the marshes around the Great Salt Lake. Utah received elk from Jackson and Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, from 1912 to 1925. The success of the transplants was almost immediate. By 1929 adequate numbers of elk existed in Utah to begin an intrastate transplant program; Utah no longer relied on other states to expand its elk herds. The buffalo was introduced originally to provide food for Indians in the state. After years of private ownership and great population fluctuations, the herd was sold to out-of-state concerns. In 1941 the State Fish and Game Department received some buffalo from Yellowstone National Park and released them near Kobner s Koost sou in ot the Green River. This herd was supplemented with additional buffalo a few years later. Since that time, the buffalo have migrated to the Henry Mountains where they roam freely Much progress has been made over the past 1U0 years in Utah's wildlife management program Many species which inhabited Utah originally have been reintroduced. Other desirable species, such as the turkey, rainbow trout and the Rocky Mountain goat, have been successfully introduced Mistakes have been made, but wildlife managers learned from those mistakes Today the Division of Wildlife Resources controls all wildlife introductions into Utah The indiscriminate introductions by private citizens and organizations have been replaced by controlled and highly researched ' programs. In the past, animals 1 were introduced to provide food or as a replacement for an 1 animal present historically. Often, too few animals were put into ' an area for an adequate , reproducing base, or 1 there was little known j about the animal's , habitat requirements. After the animal was ', released, there was i frequently a lack of 1 knowledge about the animal and its management to protect it until it became established. Today, wildlife managers can almost predict the success of a newly introduced species because of the intensive research prior to the transplant |