Construction affects camping area, adds acres to East Canyon WMA

Morgan -- If you visit the East Canyon Wildlife Management Area this fall, you’ll need to camp in a different area.

But the camping change should be more than worth it—because of the change, the Kern River Gas Transmission Company has bought and donated 160 acres of land to the WMA.

Kern River is building a pipeline through the WMA as part of the Kern River Apex Expansion Project. If you’re going to visit the East Canyon WMA this fall, please be aware of the following:

The access point to the WMA is now located east of the road you’ve used in the past to access the WMA. A free map that shows the new access and camping area is available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/eastcanyon.pdf .

You can still hunt and camp at the WMA while the construction work takes place. Just be aware that you might see pipeline construction equipment near the area where you’re camping.

Almost all of the construction is happening on the lower southern portion of the WMA. The higher northern portion of the property is not affected by the construction.

160 additional acres
The Apex Expansion Project is a new 28-mile, 36-inch diameter natural gas pipeline that Kern River is building through the Wasatch Mountains in Morgan, Davis and Salt Lake counties. Changes in access and camping have been made on the WMA to keep the public and the pipeline construction crews safe.

As part of the company’s environmental stewardship program for the project, Kern River, in cooperation with the Division of Wildlife Resources, has acquired 160 additional acres along the eastern boundary of the WMA. This land will be given to the state of Utah and will become part of the WMA.

For more information, call the DWR’s Northern Region office at (801) 476-2740.