Dunleavy gets after feds to recognize Alaska’s ownership of submerged lands – Alaska Public Media

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is taking the federal authorities to courtroom to say the state’s possession of land underneath navigable waters, in nationwide parks, refuges and forests.

“As a matter of precept, we is not going to concede one inch to the federal authorities that belongs to the state of Alaska,” he stated at a information convention Tuesday.

Not solely is the state suing, additionally it is issuing notices of trespass and cease-and-desist letters — all geared toward getting the feds to acknowledge the state’s land possession on waterways that circulation by way of federal lands, as promised within the Statehood Act. The governor additionally has a invoice pending within the Legislature to put declare to the land underneath tons of of lakes and rivers.

“We’re resetting this relationship and can pursue the Unlocking Alaska initiative relentlessly, with each out there instrument for the utmost advantage of all Alaskans,” Dunleavy stated.

One of many state’s cease-and-desist letters considerations boating on Mendenhall Lake close to Juneau. The state says the Forest Service should cease implementing its ban on motorized boating.

Katie Sturdy, senior legal professional on the environmental legislation agency Trustees for Alaska, stated she doesn’t assume the state will prevail in courtroom.

“Navigability is a matter of federal legislation and the federal authorities wants to find out what’s navigable for title functions,” she stated. “And whether or not the state passes laws or sends letters, till now we have federal determinations for every waterbody — don’t see any authorized impact. So it looks like politics to me.”

John Sturgeon additionally spoke on the governor’s information convention. He received a U.S. Supreme Court docket ruling over his proper to function a hovercraft on the Nation River, contained in the borders of land managed by the Nationwide Park Service. The Park Service doesn’t permit motorized boats. However the Sturgeon case establishes that the state of Alaska calls the photographs on navigable waters just like the Nation River.

Whereas the state cites the Sturgeon case in its cease-and-desist letter over Mendenhall Lake, Sturdy stated she doesn’t assume it applies. The Sturgeon case, and the legislation it’s constructed on, is about navigable waters in “conservation system items,” like nationwide parks, refuges, designated wilderness areas and monuments. Mendenhall Lake is within the Tongass Nationwide Forest, which she stated doesn’t meet the definition.

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