I said in my previous reports that Sessions appeared to be on his way to becoming one of the key players in Northern Region mule deer hunting. Well, my prediction proved to be right on the money.
Last year, you'll recall, Sessions had recently acquired all hunting rights on a 12,000-acre tract of land called the Park Valley Hereford Association property near the town of Park Valley and on the 16,000-acre Muddy Ranch about 15 miles west. He was in the process of implementing a new management plan to improve trophy quality and reduce hunter pressure on these properties. This management plan is developing nicely, as evidenced by the fact that the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has allowed both properties to be placed in the Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit (CWMU) program, effective this upcoming season for the Hereford Association property and in 2001 for the Muddy Ranch.
As you may already know, the CWMU program partners private landowners with the state on hunting-related wildlife conservation. Together, they decide how many big game permits will be issued for a property, with typically 85 to 90 percent of the buck and/or bull tags going to the landowner, who is then free to sell them. The remaining permits go to the public through a computer lottery. Importantly, CWMU ranchers get to set their own seasons within certain guidelines.
As regards Sessions' operation, enrollment in the CWMU program means not only greater flexibility in his game management through setting his own........(continued)
