Agency: Natural Resources

Line Item: Species Protection

Function

The purpose of the Species Protection line item is to prevent any plant or animal species from being added to the Endangered Species List and to pursue actions that will allow the delisting of threatened or endangered species in Utah.

Statutory Authority

UCA 79-2-303 establishes and governs the operation of the Species Protection.

Performance

The following are the top performance measures chosen by DNR management to gauge the success of this program.

Carp Removal: A major purpose of the program is to make progress toward recovery of federally listed species. The June Sucker is listed as endangered and occurs naturally only in Utah Lake. Common carp, a nonnative species, has been determined to be one of the major impediments to the recovery of the June Sucker. The goal of this measure is to reduce the carp population by 75%, which is determined to be necessary for the restoration of aquatic plants to Utah Lake. Aquatic plants provide cover to protect the June Sucker from predation, and be able to complete their entire life cycle in the lake, a requirement for recovery and de-listing.

Red Shiner: One of the main limiting factors for endangered species (Wound Fin and Virgin River Chub) recovery in the Virgin River is the presence of Red Shiner. Efforts have been underway for a number of years to eradicate this species from the Virgin River. The number of miles that are free from Red Shiner will help determine the number of miles that have the potential for having Wound Fin and Virgin River Chub occupation.

Funding Detail

This program is funded through revenues from the brine shrimp royalty tax and dedicated sales tax revenues (UCA 59-12-103 directs 14% or $2,450,000 of $17,500,000 to this program, see Sales Tax Distribution Chart).