Sturgeon v. Frost, No. 13-36165 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseOn remand from the Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit held that the federal government properly exercised its authority to regulate hovercraft use on the rivers within conservation system units in Alaska. The panel held that section 103(c) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), 16 U.S.C. 3101 et seq., does not limit the Park Service from applying the hovercraft ban on the Nation River in Yukon-Charley because, under the panel's Katie John precedent, Alaska v. Babbitt, 72 F.3d 698 (9th Cir. 1995), the United States has an implied reservation of water rights, rendering the river public lands. Accordingly, the panel affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to defendants.
Court Description: Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of federal defendants, and held, on remand from the Supreme Court, that the federal government properly exercised its authority to regulate hovercraft use on the rivers within conservation system units in Alaska. The Yukon-Charley National Preserve conservation system unit was set aside for preservation purposes by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (“ANILCA”). Within the borders of Yukon-Charley was a stretch of the Nation River which plaintiff sought to travel by hovercraft to get to moose hunting grounds. Plaintiff contended that the Nation River belonged to Alaska, which permits hovercraft on its waterways, and that the National Park Service had no authority to regulate, and prohibit, the use of hovercraft on that stretch of the river. The panel held that ANILCA section 103(c) did not limit the Park Service from applying the hovercraft ban on the
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on October 6, 2014.
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