Healy resident pleads guilty to illegal hunt in Denali Park

aired Wed. eve.-A Healy resident has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from an illegal moose hunt in Denali National Park 3 years ago.

Healy resident Annette Keith was fined a total of $7000 for illegal hunting in the park, operating an off road vehicle and operating a business within the park without a permit.  She was placed on probation for 3 years, lost her guiding privileges for 3 years and lost her hunting privileges for 2 years.

Keith is the co-owner of Castle Rock Outfitters.  Her and her brother-in-law BJ Keith were both guiding a client from Florida who had paid over $9000 for the moose hunt.

Ranger John Leonard of Talkeetna was conducting a helicopter patrol with an Alaska Wildlife trooper on the north side and spotted the hunters 2 miles inside the park boundary north of Eight Mile Lake off of Stampede Road. They had illegally driven two ATVs within park boundaries.

Chief Ranger Pete Armington says that in hunting season, which tends to be intense in the Stampede area, ranger staff from the north and south side of the park are used interchangeably. Armington says the Keith’s client had no idea where the hunt was occurring and he was completely exonerated in the case and was cooperative in the investigation.

The case against BJ Keith is still pending.