Unanimous Supreme Court Holds Navigable Waters Within Alaska’s National Parks Exempt From Park Service’s Normal Regulatory Authority

Sturgeon v. Frost, 2019 U.S. LEXIS 2294, 2019 WL 1333260 (March 26, 2019)

By: Arthur Crais

The dispute in this case comes before the Supreme Court for a second time. In 2016, the Court remanded the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Sturgeon v. Frost, 136 S.Ct. 1061, 194 L.Ed.2d 108 (2016) (Sturgeon I )) On remand, the Ninth Circuit held that the regulation which prevented the use of hover craft on the river in the Alaskan park applied. Again, certioriari was granted.

The petitioner for years had used a hover craft to reach his favorite moose hunting site. The petitioner would travel over a portion of the Nation River, which that flows through the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, a unit of the federal park system managed by the National Park Service. When stopped by National Park Rangers and informed of the prohibition, he complied and then sought injunctive relief in federal court to enjoin enforcement of the restriction. The petitioner maintained that the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act [1] created an exception to the general rule that the Park Service may regulate boating and other activities on waters within national parks.

Justice Kagan wrote for the unanimous Court. Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ginsburg, wrote a concurring opinion. The decision traces the history of Alaska from its purchase during the Lincoln administration from Russia (aka Seward’s folly) to the enactment of ANILCA in 1980. The Court concluded that even if non-public lands, including waters, are located within national park boundaries in Alaska, they are exempt from regulation by the National Park Service.

A more detailed synopsis of this decision will follow.

[1] ANILCA, 16 U.S.C. § 3101 et seq.