Blue Ribbon Fisheries Advisory Council Overview
Updated May 2025
Trina Hedrick
New Member Welcome
Welcome new member! Thank you for your service to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and the anglers of Utah!
This presentation is meant to help you make the most of your new role. The intent is to describe the main goals of the Council, your role and responsibilities, and help you understand the main tasks covered throughout the year.
Your main resources will always be this Google Site, which will be updated regularly throughout the year, your Blue Ribbon Handbook, the Blue Ribbon website, your counterparts on the Council, and me (Trina), your DWR representative. You can reach me at trinahedrick@utah.gov or at 435-790-2283.
Membership
There are 13 members on the Council plus me, the Executive Secretary. All 13 members are appointed by the Governor after being approved by the Council and submitting an application through the Utah Boards and Commissions website.
Each Council member serves at least one 3-yr term, but DWR would love for each member to serve two 3-yr terms, which is the maximum.
History
“To identify, enhance, and protect those Utah waters and their watersheds that provide, or have the potential to provide, Blue Ribbon quality public angling experiences for the purpose of preserving and enhancing these economically valuable natural resources.”
The Blue Ribbon Fisheries Advisory Council was created Mike Leavitt in 2001 and formally established by Executive Order during Governor Jon Huntsman’s term in 2005.
The original impetus was to use fishing to drive tourism dollars to rural Utah.
Purposes of the BRFAC
Our main tasks throughout the year include:
Advisory Role
The Blue Ribbon Fisheries Advisory Council is an Advisory Council, which means your role is to provide your opinion on matters discussed throughout the year.
After discussions (and Council voting as needed), the Council makes recommendations to the DWR.
DWR makes the final decision but as the DWR’s liaisons to the anglers in the State, we seriously consider the Council’s opinions and viewpoints.
Identifying new or reviewing current BRF Fisheries
Anyone on the Council can nominate a fishery. New waterbody nominations are brought forward during the January meeting.
Members visit waters throughout the season and rate them using the Hepworth-Walker Scale (found here).
In recent years, DWR staff have scored some criteria that are not related to the fishing experience that require specific biological information (population characteristics, shore access, water quantity, and water quality, representing 32 of 87 possible points).
Identifying new or reviewing current BRF Fisheries
The Council provides the scores for the remaining criteria and submits them via the forms on the Google Site.
The biologists will provide some information during our November meeting and we’ll discuss and vote on them.
Removal of a waterbody is a less formal process only requiring a simple vote as it is intended to allow for rapid removal, if circumstances require (e.g., wildfire).
Scoring Criteria
The Hepworth-Walker Scale for rating and ranking waterbodies was developed over many years (about a decade) through an iterative process that started with our most valued waters, categorized them (small and large, reservoirs and streams), and identified what made them valuable. Not all of those waters made the cutoff, but this helped to hone the ranking system and truly understand what makes a Blue Ribbon water.
Minor adjustments were made to the ranking system over the years until those changes were finalized in 2020 with the current rating system.
Habitat and Access Recommendations
DWR sets aside $450,000 annually for work on Blue Ribbon issues and potential Blue Ribbon fisheries. These are Restricted dollars.
Blue Ribbon roles:
Government and Private Collaboration
Blue Ribbon is an angler group and can represent the “voice” of anglers during government meetings - stick to facts and request information from DWR beforehand as needed. For example, gaining County Commission support for a project that benefits fisheries/anglers.
Blue Ribbon Council members can meet with other groups (e.g., TU chapters), passing on information allowing them to advocate for fishing and fisheries.
Any letters, correspondence, or anything that can be construed as lobbying needs to be discussed with DWR so we can ensure it doesn’t cross the line into lobbying.
Publicity and Promotion
BR identifies topics that the council would like to publicize during the November meeting, Council ranks those topics overwinter.
The list is finalized with Outreach section during the January meeting.
Most publicity and promotion is done by the DWR Outreach section, with consultation and assistance from DWR Aquatics section and BR.
The annual outreach schedule is found on the BR Site, and Aquatics and Outreach work together on press releases, magazine articles, and social media posts with the identified messaging throughout the year.
Volunteer Time Recording
Please record your time spent doing “Blue Ribbon activities”
DWR uses your hours for record keeping and as match to leverage additional funding.
BR members sign up through the link on the Site. Then report date, activity, and hours to Trina. There will be a new link every July (new fiscal year) but I will remind you to please sign up each year.
Please submit all hours for each FY by June 30
BRFAC Annual Schedule
January—Finalize outreach priorities, review submitted projects (briefly), present new waters for evaluation or re-evaluation, regional updates
March—Reviewing and evaluating Blue Ribbon project proposals
June—Fishing regulation changes (even years), review of approved projects, regional updates, new member training
November—evaluating or re-evaluating waterbodies, brief introduction to potential projects, start developing outreach list for upcoming year, regional updates
Questions? trinahedrick@utah.gov