The state of Alaska is continuing talks with two Alaska Native corporations over access to their land at a popular fishery.

The Chitina and Ahtna Native corporations plan to erect a fence that would limit access to the fishery. They say they won't accept an agreement unless the state agrees to enforce trespass laws.

"We can't open it up and have 30,000 people trampling on land with no control," Ann Thomas, the acting president of the Chitina Native Corporation, told The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

The state used to charge a trespass fee and pass it on to the corporations but it was eliminated when a survey showed that the fishery was located on state land. But O'Brien Creek, the staging point for the fishery, requires gaining access through Native land.

Get the Story:
Chitina access agreement elusive (The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 5/27)