If you are a local farmer or rancher, state wildlife officials would like to start sending you annual checks.

"As the landowner, you agree to allow hunters or anglers access to your property," said Mark Hadley of the DWR.¬ "But that access is allowed only on terms you agree to."

A DWR biologist will meet with the landowner to forge agreement on when sportsmen can access the property in question, where sportsmen can park, where they can enter the property, rules they will need to follow, species they are allowed to hunt and whether they need to contact the landowner before accessing the property.

The program started two years ago in northern Utah and has been a success, with 50,000 acres enrolled so far. "Private landowners and sportsmen love it," Hadley said. "I think private landowners who join in central Utah will enjoy it, too."

Travel and game retrieval within Walk-in Access areas is limited to foot traffic only, unless the landowner designates a road for vehicle travel, said Jo Proctor, who manages the program. DWR conservation officers will patrol the areas and landowners will be provided with liability coverage.

To qualify for the program, landowners must own at least 80 contiguous acres, or 40 contiguous acres of wetland or riparian habitat, or own or provide access to a quarter-mile or more of stream or river, or pond or lake that is five acres or more in size, or access to isolated public lands.

Landowners are paid according to how many acres they enroll. Payments range from $370 annually for 80 to 250 acres all the way to $1,680 for 5,000 acres or more for hunting access, and $625 annually for up to a half-mile of stream, or five to 25 acres of pond, all the way to $1,323 for two or more miles of stream or 100 or more acres of pond.

The program "is a huge benefit to sportsmen," Proctor said. "For this program to be successful, sportsmen will need to have high hunting ethics and respect the landowner and his property. Sportsmen have gotten a bad name with landowners over the years because they trespass, cause damage and leave their litter. So it has been a challenge to get landowners to change the way they see sportsmen and to give them a second chance. But with the ethical hunters on their property with those few bad apple hunters it will help to keep them in line."

Those interested in enrolling their property are asked to call Proctor at 602-8837 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Online information and maps of enrolled areas are available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/walkinaccess.