Governor Sean Parnell expressed his disappointment with the Ninth Circuit's decision in the Sturgeon v. Masica case.
"Alaska has an important, sovereign interest in managing State lands and waters, whether they are within or outside of National Parks," said Governor Parnell. "The Ninth Circuit not only refused to recognize the State's right to manage its own lands and waters, but wrongly found that the National Park Service could regulate State-owned lands and navigable waters within national parks as if they were part of the park. ANILCA clearly forbids this."
The National Park Service (NPS) stopped John Sturgeon from using his hovercraft on the Nation River in 2007 -- a State-owned navigable waterway Mr. Sturgeon had used annually for moose hunting since 1971. Additionally, the National Park Service required the State to comply with a federal permit to conduct genetic sampling of chum and sockeye from the bed of the Alagnak River, which is State land. The permit increased the staff time and expense necessary to complete the sampling and imposed burdensome, unnecessary requirements.
In a lawsuit against NPS, Mr. Sturgeon and the State argued that the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) prohibited the application of park management regulations to State-owned lands and navigable waterways. Both plaintiffs appealed after the district court upheld the federal regulations. The Ninth Circuit ruled that (1) a favorable ruling would not correct the harm suffered by the State in complying with the 2010 permit, and therefore it lacked standing to challenge the actions by NPS, and (2) that the regulations did not violate ANILCA.
"I am extremely disappointed in the Ninth Circuit's decision," Governor Parnell added. "It diminishes Alaskans' constitutional and statutory right to manage their own resources."