In a filing on Monday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the court completed its judgement in the Sturgeon v Masica case and said, that “The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of federal appellees, and vacated the judgment against intervenor/appellant State of Alaska, due to its lack of standing, in an action brought by John Sturgeon challenging the National Park Service’s enforcement of a regulation banning the operation of hovercrafts on the Nation River.”

The court continued, in its opinion, saying, “The National Park Service (“NPS”) ban prevented Sturgeon from using his personal hovercraft on his moose hunting trips on the Nation River, part of which falls within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. The State of Alaska intervened, challenging NPS’s authority to require its researchers to obtain a permit before engaging in studies of chum and sockeye salmon on the Alagnak River, part of which falls within the boundaries of the Katmai National Park and Preserve.”

The court said that the state lacked standing to challenge the regulations.

On Tuesday, Alaska’s Governor Sean Parnell responded and expressed his disappointment at the court’s decision. He said in a statement, “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.”

“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.”

  sturgeon v masica