Choggiung Ltd. has enacted a new land policy restricting big game hunting by non-shareholders along the Nushagak River. Under the new policy, only shareholders may hunt moose on Choggiung Ltd. land along the river from August 20 to 31—the first 11 days of the fall season. Starting September 1, the area will open to non-shareholder residents of the watershed for the rest of the fall moose hunting season, but non-residents of the watershed remain prohibited from hunting big game for the entire season.
This latest regulation builds on an earlier restriction introduced in 2021 for Choggiung Ltd. land west of the Wood River, including the Snake Lake area, where big game hunting remains limited to shareholders.
Mark Bielefeld is the land manager for Choggiung Ltd. He joins KDLG to discuss the pre-existing restrictions, how they have evolved over the years, and the new restrictions for the upcoming moose hunt.
Bielefeld: So, back in 2021, we initialized a restriction for the area west of the Wood River, which includes Snake Lake. I call it the recreational area. So, it limits the non-shareholders. They’re restricted from hunting big game, ultimately. So, the original restriction for that area was no subsistence, no anything. They can hike, but don’t pick berries. I was able to revamp that, get back with our board, and adjust that to allow for small game hunting and subsistence use, because many of the people come to Dillingham in search of that need or subsistence way of life, but maybe it's not their culture, so we were able to revamp that. And basically, the restriction is no moose hunting for non-shareholders. So if you're a member of another village, corporation, or tribe within the state, you as well can hunt big game. However, there is a fee for the permit.
Sutherland: In 2021, it was initially instated with full restrictions across subsistence activities. When did that change happen to allow for berry picking and small game hunting?
Bielefeld: I took about a year to go through all the complaints and everything from both shareholders and non-shareholders, I mean, so I was able to orchestrate another policy, a policy change, which was reenacted in the following August. So about a year. So in August of 2022 we lifted all those restrictions, and ultimately, again, it just became a big game hunting only restriction.
Sutherland: So moving over to the second restriction on the Nushagak. Can you just talk a little bit about what the changes and the restrictions are?
Bielefeld: Here, most recently, we instituted another restriction up the Nushagak River. For those that are around the Dillingham area, the restriction starts at Black Point and goes all the way up to the confluence of the Iowithla and Nushagak and basically all the land is restricted for the first 11 days. So that's the opener hunting day on the 20th of August through the 31st. It's restricted to shareholders only, and then after that, the restriction is lifted to only watershed residents and shareholders can hunt the remainder of the season. So if you're from outside of the watershed, which is the Nushagak and Wood and maybe the Togiak Rivers, you’re not allowed to hunt either for the duration. We do allow predator hunts, which are considered to be brown bear and wolf, but that too is restricted during the moose hunting season. That way, we don't have any conflict of interest in somebody's hunting bear, but they're actually hunting moose, so we restrict that as well.
Sutherland: And does it apply to other subsistence activities, or will this also just be big game?
Bielefeld: This is only for big game. And one of the reasons is, we’re trying to preserve not only the resource, the moose resource, because not enough has been harvested, because there's not many moose out there. I mean, there are plenty of moose, but it's difficult for our shareholders to hunt it, and it's their land, so we're trying to give them the advantage so we can preserve that resource for the future generations.
Sutherland: Can you tell me a little bit about permits for general use?
Bielefeld: So we basically have one permit. It's broken down into two categories: either family or individual. So the purchase of that is done at our main office here in Dillingham. We also have a remote location at Snake Lake. The caretaker there can also accommodate that. And if you go upriver, we also have a headquarters upriver during the summer months where you can actually purchase a permit. And so the family permit is $240 and it goes for calendar year, so January one through December 31 and for the most part, it allows you to do everything subsistence wise, recreational and small game hunting, with the exception of no big game hunting on snake lake and then the restriction for the seasonal hunt up the river. The individual permit is $180 with the same criteria.
We are going to step up our enforcement on the river this year, because it is new. We're mostly there for educational reasons. But the PSA, I mean, we do have the right to fine through the state troopers and things like that. We can utilize that resource. There can be fines imposed for harvesting a moose during that period.
Sutherland: What resources can people use to make sure that they are following? Are there signposts, or are there maps online that people can pull up?
Bielefeld: Yes, there are land maps that we have that outline the restrictions. It is a downloadable PDF. Currently, we are trying to get it so it's digital, so they can download it to their phones. But there are PDF maps. We do have maps posted around town, like at Fish and Game, especially for the Nushagak area, and at our office. If you need a map, you can stop by our office, and I have some printed out already for that.
