R657-41-6. Awarding Single Year Conservation Permits

  (1) The division shall recommend the conservation organization to receive each single year conservation permit based on:

  (a)(i) the bid amount pledged to the species; and

  (ii) the bid amount pledged to the species, adjusted, when applicable, by:

  (A) the performance of the organization over the previous two years in meeting proposed bids;

  (B) 90% of the bid amount; and

  (C) the organizations maintaining a minimum two-year average performance of 70% to be eligible for consideration of permits. Performance of the organization is the proportion of the total revenue generated from permit sales, divided by 90% of the bid amount for all permits, calculated annually and averaged for the last two years.

  (b) If two or more conservation organizations are tied using the criteria in Subsection (a), the following factors may be used to award the single year conservation permit:

  (i) closeness of the organization's purpose to the species of the permit; and

  (ii) geographic closeness of the organization to the location of the permit.

  (2)(a) Between the time the division recommends that a conservation permit be awarded to a conservation organization and the time the Wildlife Board approves that recommendation, a conservation organization may withdraw the application for any given permit and assign it to or exchange it with another conservation organization eligible to receive the permit without penalty, provided the bid amount upon which the permit application was evaluated is not changed.

  (b) If a conservation organization withdraws its bid for a conservation permit after being selected by the division to receive it, and the bid is awarded to another organization at a lower amount, the difference between the two bids will be subtracted from the organization making the higher bid for purposes of evaluating organization performance.

  (3) The Wildlife Board shall make the final assignment of conservation permits.

  (4) The Wildlife Board may authorize a conservation permit to a conservation organization other than the one recommended by the division, after considering the:

  (a) division recommendation;

  (b) benefit to the species;

  (c) historical contribution of the organization to the conservation of wildlife in Utah;

  (d) previous performance of the conservation organization; and

  (e) overall viability and integrity of the conservation permit program.

  (5) The total of all bids for permits awarded to any one organization shall not exceed $20,000 the first year an organization receives permits.

  (6) The number of permits awarded to any one organization shall not increase by more than 100% from the previous year.