Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday that three people – two from Outside and one Alaskan – have been charged with carrying out illegal hunts in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
Those charged in an indictment handed up by an Anchorage grand jury are Jeffrey Harris, 44, of Poulsbo, Washington; Dale Lackner, 72, of Haines; and Casey Richardson, 47, of Huson, Montana.
The three defendants stand accused of working together to provide illegal hunts at the Ptarmigan Lake Lodge in the 13.2 million-acre national park, the largest in the U.S.
The lodge was permitted to provide sport hunting guide services within the park, but during the 2014 and 2015 hunting seasons non-resident hunters killed a Dall sheep without being accompanied by a guide, according to the indictment.
"Harris and Richardson, not Alaska residents nor registered guides, are charged with illegally hunting themselves and conducting many of the illegal hunts," prosecutors said. "Lackner, a registered guide in 2015, conspired with Richardson to conduct an illegal hunt."
It's also alleged Harris and Lackner created false state hunting records, claiming the hunts were properly and legally conducted.
Harris stands accused of using bait piles and thereby engaging in illegal predator control, according to the indictment.
"Richardson and Harris then used xylitol, an artificial sweetener in many food products, but deadly to canines and birds, on the bait piles to kill wolves and coyotes; such conduct is prohibited on a national preserve," prosecutors said.
The defendants face up to five years in prison and $250,000 fines if convicted.
State prosecutors last week charged a master guide in Western Alaska accused of instructing his employees to herd grizzly bears so clients would have a better shot at them, according to the charges.