Farmington Bay » As we drove along the dike last Sunday with our eyes scanning for bald eagles I wondered if I had entered a time warp.

What were all these cars doing out here? Had the family van been transported back to the first weekend of October and the opening of the waterfowl hunt?

The ice on the fresh water of Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area confirmed it was indeed the first day of February. There was plenty of shooting going on, but it was all with cameras, some with super-long lenses and others little point-and-shoot digitals.

Bald eagles were the main focus, but there were geese, swans, harriers and numerous ducks that were more than willing to pose.

I've been getting all kinds of W-2 forms and tax preparation notices lately so naturally I have been thinking about money, or the lack of it. I wondered how many of the people driving up and down the dike that day knew the place wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for the money hunters have been paying in the form of licenses and taxes for the last century.

Most people figure they are doing their share to help Utah wildlife by paying state taxes, considering the state has a wildlife agency. Almost all are amazed to learn that only 11 percent of the Division of Wildlife Resources' (DWR) annual budget comes from the general state fund. That leaves the vast majority of the cost of preserving wildlife, battling exotic species, and protecting and rehabilitating critical habitat to a small, and shrinking, percentage of Utahns.

Officials tracked visitor use at Farmington Bay for six years from 1997 to 2002 and found that an average of 100,000 people visited the waterfowl management area each year. Here's the amazing part. Only 15,000 of them were there to hunt. The numbers are likely even more dramatic now.

Imagine 100,000 people enjoying Disneyland, but only 15,000 of them footing the bill.

Ironically, hunters aren't complaining. Nonhunters often complain, and rightfully so, that the DWR management focuses mostly on hunters and anglers. That's a no-brainer: It has to focus on hunters and anglers to survive as an agency.

Some Utahns are horrified to hear that people will pay $150,000 for the chance to hunt elk in Utah. Many figure the money goes to the DWR for new trucks and ugly uniforms. But the reality is that that money, some $3 million in conservation hunting tags, benefits all Utahns, not just those who take home a trophy rack.

There have been all kinds of efforts to prompt the non-consumptive (for lack of a better term) crowd to pay their share, but the bottom line is that more Utahns need to contribute to wildlife management. I've covered this issue for 20 years and it appears the only way that will happen is through more state funding.

That certainly isn't likely this year with all the budget cutting, but if Utahns want wildlife in the future for themselves and their children, serious efforts need to begin now.

Brett Prettyman is a columnist. Reach him at brettp@sltrib.com