Juneau, Alaska – The Alaska House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill by Rep. Dave Talerico to clarify state laws governing use of state navigable waters to better protect an individual’s rights to use State submerged lands, and remove ambiguity over federal encroachment.

House Bill 216 adds certain activities to the list of those deemed a “useful public purpose” consistent with the needs of Alaskans using state submerged lands, referred to as navigable waters. Similar to the John Sturgeon case just remanded by the Supreme Court, HB 216 seeks to better define state law and draw a bright line over the State’s supremacy in areas under the federal Submerged Lands Act.

“We as a State have the sovereign title to our lands and waters, and the opportunity to decide our management rules. HB 216 updates our navigable water laws to remove the chance for any ambiguity like that which got Mr. Sturgeon tied up in the byzantine courts for nearly a decade,” said Talerico, R-Healy, and the House Resources Committee Co-Chair. “Thankfully, the U.S. Supreme Court saw the error in the Sturgeon case. Like that case, HB 216 is a necessary victory where we will cement our place as the sovereign over our navigable waters.”

The bill proposes three main changes to existing law:

• Re-defining navigable waters to include all seasons, be it ice or thaw.
• Amending the list of allowable uses to include ice harvesting, state/federal military training, operations of boats or other watercraft, hovercraft, snow machines, all-terrain vehicles, any other motorized or non-motorized vehicles, and storage of vehicles.
• Amending the definition of allowable hunting to include all game, instead of just waterfowl or other aquatic animals.

“This is a direct way to handle omissions from the law and allow for Alaskans who want to have lawfully permitted access to our waterways the chance to enjoy them in the form they choose,” said Talerico. “We can remove redundancy, re-assert our authority over federal officials from blocking access to our lands and waters, and protect the rights of individual Alaskans to enjoy the Great Land we so cherish.”

HB216 now moves to the Alaska Senate.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

  Alaska, federal, hb 216, house, juneau, navigable, rivers, sovereignty, state, submerged lands, waters