For registration or details call the museum, 797-1414. The free lecture begins at 7 p.m. and the public is invited. The museum is closed Mondays and holidays. All exhibits are free and open to the public. The closing of private land is part of the reason for a nation decline in hunting, according to hunters and state fish and wildlife agencies.
Hunters also cite crowding as a drawback.
For their part, private landowners indicate that illegal trespass and damage to their property are the primary reasons for their restricting public access. Terry Messmer, wildlife Extension specialist in the Fisheries and Wildlife Department at Utah State University, says that most states have implemented programs to encourage landowners to improve fish and wildlife habitat and maintain better hunter access. He says that Utah, through its Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit Program and Wildlife Habitat Authorization funds has opened more than 1 million acres of private rangeland to Utah hunters. Since landowners are closing their property to the public because of property damage, Messmer says that hunters who continue to trespass are largely responsible for increased access restrictions placed on hunting. In Utah this permission is legally defined to mean written authorization from the owner or person in charge to enter private land that is properly posted.