Agencies focus on Dunes hunting

Officials from two state agencies say they will try to preserve the right to hunt water fowl at Tolowa Dunes, even though it’s technically been illegal since the area became a state park in 2001.

But they also admit they’re not sure how to do it.

The California Department of Fish and Game and the California State Parks are working to reinstate hunting at Tolowa Dunes this hunting season, which started Saturday.

Currently, hunting water fowl at Tolowa Dunes is prohibited for the first time since the land was acquired by the two agencies in 1983.

According to state park and DFG officials, that was due to a mistake — hunting at Tolowa Dunes actually has been illegal since 2001 when it was designated a state park. But it took a recent review by legal staff from both agencies to figure it out.

The reason it has been illegal since 2001 is that hunting in a California State Park is against the law.

The original agreement between the two agencies allowed hunting until the 10,000-acre parcel of land was designated a state park.

“As it turns out neither agency had the legal authority to allow hunting to continue after it was a state park,” said  Bomke. “We actually knew in 2007, but we are finally getting to it now.”

According to Bomke, the state park service was caught by surprise when it  found out that Tolowa Dunes was no longer listed in DFG regulations as a place for water fowl hunting.

Bomke wanted to emphasize that the current restriction on hunting at Tolowa Dunes is due more to a misunderstanding between agencies then any change in policy.

“The hope is to have an agreement in place before hunting season is over,” Bomke said. “Fortunately right now, those areas aren’t desirable for hunting because it’s going to take significant rains till the ducks start landing.”

The state parks weren’t the only ones caught by surprise. Local sportsmen have been hunting the park’s waterways for years and, upon realizing they were suddenly off-limits, brought it not only to the state parks but also to the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors.

This prompted supervisors to begin drafting a letter to both DFG and the state parks.

“We want to encourage them to get this done as soon as possible,” said supervisor Mike Sullivan of reinstating hunting.

Bomke agrees, but he is unsure what the eventual changes will look like.

“I can’t say how it’s going to work,” Bomke said. “We are committed to getting it formalized as soon as possible, but what form it will take is still up in the air.”