Wetland watch: House bill stands to provide protections to wildlife area at Goshen Bay
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- Birds are pictured at the Utah Lake Wetland Preserve at Goshen Bay on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.
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- A bird is pictured at the Utah Lake Wetland Preserve at Goshen Bay on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.
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- Birds are pictured at the Utah Lake Wetland Preserve at Goshen Bay on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.
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- The Utah Lake Wetland Preserve at Goshen Bay is pictured Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.
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- Birds are pictured at the Utah Lake Wetland Preserve at Goshen Bay on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.
At the southernmost point of Utah Lake, Goshen Bay includes a section of the Utah Lake Wetland Preserve and serves as a haven for bird migration and hunting.
A bill sponsored in the state Legislature, H.B. 93, seeks to further protect the area by designating it as the Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
Sponsored by state Rep. Doug Welton, R-District 65, the bill comes at the request of the Utah Lake Authority and the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources.
“It’s a place for our wildlife ecosystem,” Welton told the Daily Herald. “And with the growth we’re anticipating in south Utah County that we’ve seen, we figured it was better to lock it up while there are no conflicts, rather than waiting until development comes and we end up with potential conflicts.”
Welton said the only overlapping rights in the area are grazing rights, which will be permitted to continue.
Welton and Utah Lake Authority Executive Director Luke Peterson addressed the bill before the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee Friday afternoon, where it received unanimous support.
Peterson told the committee significant effort has been made in recent years to preserve the wetlands. The most immediate impact of designating the area as a waterfowl management area, Peterson said, is that it will make it easier for the Utah Lake Authority to use $2.5 million allocated from the federal government to Utah Lake to improve recreation and access at the wetland.
“With this in place, it’ll be easier for us to use those funds strategically for the benefit of sportsmen and hunters,” he said.
The designation also places the area under specific Department of Wildlife Resources protections. According to the department, waterfowl management areas or wildlife management areas statewide are intended to conserve habitats, minimize private property damage and preserve hunting and fishing opportunities.
In these management areas, the department provides food and shelter to help animals survive the winter months while working with the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative to keep vegetation and watersheds healthy.
Peterson said the land will also serve as an important piece of a strategy from the Utah Reclamation Mitigation Conservation Commission, which seeks to eventually turn over 20,000 acres of conserved federal land to the state.
“This legislation is good news for Utah Lake,” Peterson said in a statement to the Daily Herald. “It will help preserve some of the most critical wetlands in the state while protecting access for hunters and sportsmen.”
