Unit 21A, Alaska

Roadless lowland boreal interior in west-central Alaska; roughly half black-spruce muskeg, wet sedge meadows, and horsetail marshes interspersed with oxbow lakes, ponds, and meandering braided rivers. Upland hills mostly under 1,000 ft elevation. Transition zone between interior taiga and the open tundra of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Permafrost is discontinuous. Vegetation dominated by black and white spruce, willow, alder, birch, cottonwood, and extensive wet-meadow sedge communities.

Entirely roadless. Primary summer access via float-equipped bush plane landing on refuge lakes; ski plane and snowmachine in winter. River float trips on upper Innoko, Iditarod, and Dishna Rivers also used — hunters fly in boats/gear and float out. Nearest hub community is McGrath (commercial air service to Anchorage). Charter flights available from McGrath. The vast majority of the southern unit lies within Innoko National Wildlife Refuge (4.6 million acres, including 1.24 million-acre Innoko Wilderness). Hunting is permitted on the refuge. Federal subsistence regulations apply on NWR federal public lands. No vehicles allowed inside the refuge.

Black spruce muskeg bog and wet meadow dominate the lowland matrix. Riparian corridors support willow, alder, cottonwood, and sedge communities critical for moose browse. White spruce on better-drained sites. Lakes and ponds abundant — key floatplane landing infrastructure and waterfowl habitat. Innoko is one of the largest waterfowl staging areas in interior Alaska. Upland shrub tundra and spruce woodland on hills.

Moose are resident year-round throughout the riparian willow and mixed-spruce lowlands. Caribou in Unit 21A belong primarily to the Beaver Mountains herd (range: Swinging Dome south through the Beaver Mountains north to the Innoko River) and the Sunshine Mountains herd (Nixon Fork drainages, Innoko River to Von Frank Mountain, Susulatna and Nowitna headwaters). Combined Beaver Mountains + Sunshine Mountains herd estimate (2013 minimum count, corrected): approximately 1,000–1,250 caribou. Both herds are small and local; caribou hunting is opportunistic and incidental to moose hunts. Wintering areas include north side of the Kuskokwim Mountains from the Iditarod River east to the Dishna River (Beaver Mountains herd) and Nixon Fork drainages (Sunshine Mountains herd). Historic presence of Mulchatna and Western Arctic herd animals in Unit 21E/adjacent areas; rare vagrant events in 21A possible.

SUBSISTENCE: Federal subsistence priority applies on all federal public lands (Innoko NWR) — rural residents have priority over sport hunters when populations are limited. State subsistence customary-and-traditional use finding exists for moose in Unit 21 combined (21A+21B); amounts reasonably necessary for subsistence set at 600–800 moose. Subsistence regulations require moose meat to remain on the bones of front quarters, hindquarters, and ribs until removed from the field or processed for human consumption for any meat taken prior to October 1 (Units 21A and 21E). NON-RESIDENT MOOSE: Non-residents must complete a Nonresident Moose Hunter Orientation course prior to hunting; proof of completion required in the field. Non-resident moose antler restriction: 50-inch antlers OR 4+ brow tines on at least one side (permit RM835). Non-resident bear hunters must be accompanied by a licensed guide. PERMIT STRUCTURE: Moose hunting in Unit 21A requires registration permit RM835 (not a drawing — registration permits are available at ADF&G offices in McGrath, Anchorage, Palmer, or Fairbanks beginning Aug 3; also available online at hunt.alaska.gov). Caribou is harvest-ticket (HT) — no advance permit needed, obtain at license vendors. WANTON WASTE: Meat care rule (bones must retain meat until out of field or processed) applies to moose taken before Oct 1. PARADISE CONTROLLED USE AREA: A state controlled use area (Paradise CUA) covering portions of the lower Innoko/Iditarod confluence zone bans use of aircraft for hunting moose, including transportation of moose hunters, gear, and parts of moose (does not apply to transport between public airports or to processed meat).