[ad_1]
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – The National Park Service has banned an Alaskan moose hunter from using a hovercraft on a river crossing a national reserve, the United States Supreme Court said Tuesday in a unanimous decision .
The court limited the authority of the National Parks Service to enforce laws and regulations pertaining to state-owned rivers in Alaska. The judges rejected the argument of the agency that the river was "a public land" for the regulatory authority and that its interests in the use rights of the landl Water gave him the power to make rules.
The result was a victory for moose hunter John Sturgeon of Anchorage, who had sued and was dismissed by a lower court decision.
"We reverse the decision below and wish Sturgeon a good hunt," said Judge Elena Kagan, reading a summary of the decision. Sturgeon could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
The judges cited the Alaska National Conservation Land Act which, in 1980, reserved land of 162,500 square miles (420,875 square kilometers) for preservation purposes. The law created 10 new national parks, reserves and monuments, but said the agency rules would not apply to Crown lands or private lands in conservation units that are not under the control of the federal government.
For 40 years, sturgeons have hunted moose along the Nation River, a waterway located in the Yukon and Charley National Rivers Reserve in northeastern Alaska. In 2007, he used a hovercraft, a noisy amphibious vehicle, powered by a blower, able to navigate in shallow waters or even in mud.
The agency had banned the hovercraft in other states. Three park rangers told Sturgeon that it was illegal to use his hovercraft and he returned home.
Sturgeon filed a lawsuit in 2011. After the lower courts rejected its arguments, the Supreme Court in 2016 ruled that the 1980 law provided for many Alaska-specific exceptions to the general authority of the Service du Canada. park on protected reserves, such as snowmobile and airplane trips between villages.
The judges remanded the case for reconsideration but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the agency had regulatory authority over a river on a reserve. The Supreme Court justices rejected this conclusion.
The 1980 law creating new parks and reserves surrounded more than 72,844 square kilometers of state-owned land, Alaska natives and private land, Kagan wrote. The court said the National Parks Service has extensive powers to administer lands and waterways in the country's parks. However, the Alaska Congress Act added a provision that only "public" lands – lands and waters owned by the federal government – would be subject to federal regulation, wrote Kagan.
The federal government's reserved water right in the Nations River, she said, allows the National Park Service to protect it from depletion or diversion, but not to target hovercraft.
"Sturgeon can again use its hovercraft in search of moose," wrote Kagan.
[ad_2]
Source link