The ice on Strawberry Reservoir is not yet thick enough for mid-winter fishing, but that’s the least of Utah anglers’ worries. Saturday, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources sent an alert notifying anglers that the winter access road into the reservoir may not be plowed this year, effectively shutting down ice fishing in the area.
Forest Road No. 131, also known as West Strawberry Road, is the only route consistently plowed so anglers’ might access the Strawberry Bay Marina. That’s where Cameron Phillips and his father, Paul Phillips, run the Strawberry Bay Lodge and play host to anglers.
But Paul does more than run the lodge — he’s the one that plows West Strawberry Road throughout the winter. He’s been doing so in partnership with the United States Forest Service since 1994.
Then, two years ago, Cameron said the pair entered into negotiations with Wasatch County, which took over responsibility for the road from the U.S. Forest Service. Prior to that change, Cameron said he and his father footed the bill to plow the road. Years ago, that amounted to about $70,000. These days, with inflation, it’s more like $150,000.
Cameron said he and Paul hoped Wasatch County might lessen the burden.
“Frankly speaking, the Forest Service contract was a huge drain on our business, and so we were pretty motivated to try and find something that worked better for us and the public going forward,” Cameron said.
But there was a hiccup this year. Although Wasatch County offered to cover the $40,000 bond for the Phillips to get a permit to plow the road, which the family previously held with the Forest Service, Cameron said the latest contract would not provide the liability or financial support needed to continue plowing the road.
“That was the big hang up, is we were not willing to come up with more money to provide a public service when we were already losing a substantial amount of money on the access, and so we pushed it off,” Cameron said.
Generally, county officials say they want the road to stay open for anglers, but the issue is not a regional one or something the county should solely address. To be the sole supporter of the road, officials say, would be unfair to the taxpayers.
Utah Anglers Coalition Secretary and Treasurer Jeff Salt said there are approximately 450,000 Utahns who hold fishing licenses. Strawberry Reservoir, he said, is one of the most popular places to fish in the state. But Salt said it’s not just anglers who would be affected by a road closure.
He referenced a 2023 Blue Ribbon Economic Survey by Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative, which found that Utah anglers spent an average of $188 per trip and reported fishing an average of 20 times per year. That involves expenses at gas stations, convenience stores and lodging — all of which are a benefit to Wasatch County, when anglers have Strawberry Reservoir as their destination.
The report estimated 418,000 licensed anglers then who took an average of 14 trips per year. That amounted to expenses totaling just over $1 billion annually. Salt said that study shows it would be a loss for the county to have no access for fishing in Strawberry Reservoir.
Salt also said, if the road closes, he would be concerned that anglers would still find a way to make it to Strawberry Reservoir.
“Then we have some unintended consequences that would be a public safety risk because people will come up there and still try to do fishing or snowmobile activities,” Salt said. “Will they try to go along that road on their own and get stuck? Or will they park out on Highway 40, causing an even bigger public safety concern?”
It’s an even bigger problem if anglers get injured and medical resources have no access to reach them.
State departments, Wasatch County and the Phillips family met on Monday to discuss and possibly resolve the issue. Cameron said, this time, all parties were more amenable to amending the contracts. He hopes all parties will come to an agreement by the end of the week.
“We’ll continue to provide snow plowing services for this year regardless of whether the funding is in place going into next year and, if something falls through, then we’ll have to revisit it,” Cameron said.
Cameron added that there is not enough snow to cause a problem at the moment, and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources advises anglers to proceed with winter recreation at their own risk.