(1) (a) A landowner or lessee may kill big game animals damaging cultivated crops on private land if: (i) it is necessary to protect cultivated crops; (ii) 72 hours has expired since a request for action is given pursuant to Subsection 23A-8-402(1)(a); (iii) the landowner or lessee has provided or sent written notice of an intent to kill the big game animal to the nearest regional office of the division; (iv) the landowner or lessee kills the big game animal within 90 days, or a longer period, if approved, in writing, by the division, after having requested that the division take action to prevent depredation under Subsection 23A-8-402(1)(a); and (v) the killing is not prohibited by Subsection (2)(a) or (3). (b) Immediately after killing a big game animal under Subsection (1)(a), the landowner or lessee shall notify the division of the killing. (c) The carcass of a big game animal killed under Subsection (1)(a) is the property of the division and the division shall dispose of the carcass. (d) Money derived from the sale of big game animals killed shall be placed in the Wildlife Resources Account created in Section 23A-3-201. (e) A landowner or lessee who kills big game animals pursuant to this section shall: (i) make reasonable effort to prevent the big game animals from wasting; and (ii) provide the division reasonable access to the landowner's or lessee's land to retrieve and dispose of the big game animals. (2) (a) The director may prohibit the killing of big game animals under Subsection (1)(a) if, within 72 hours after a landowner or lessee has requested that the division take action to remove depredating big game animals, the division: (i) determines that the restitution value of the big game animal or animals, as established under Section 23A-5-312, is more than twice the estimated value of the cultivated crops that have been or will be damaged or consumed within a single growing season; (ii) determines that the prohibition is consistent with the management plan established under Section 23A-11-301; (iii) notifies the landowner or lessee of the prohibition; and (iv) offers the landowner or lessee a depredation mitigation plan. (b) A landowner or lessee who is offered a depredation mitigation plan may: (i) accept the plan in writing; or (ii) refuse to accept the plan and appeal the plan, in writing, to the director. (3) After a landowner or lessee has killed a big game animal under Subsection (1)(a), the director may prohibit further killing of big game animals if: (a) the division takes the actions described in Subsections (2)(a)(i) through (iv); or (b) the mitigation review panel reviews and approves the depredation mitigation plan. Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 103, 2023 General Session
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