The federal government ended their claim to approximately 91 miles of the North Fork and Middle Fork of the Fortymile River. It was a celebration by the administration of Governor Mike Dunleavy in regard to Alaska’s Statehood Defense initiative. He called it a ‘significant moment’ for Alaska. The governor wrote that the Supreme Court already declared that navigable waters in the state belong to Alaskans, and he stressed his commitment to his administration fighting for Alaskans managing its own resources.
Under federal law, the State of Alaska received title to all submerged lands underneath navigable waters statewide at the date of statehood except in rare instances. The Dunleavy Administration states that ownership of these submerged lands also conveys the authority to manage and control the waters flowing over them.
Gov. Dunleavy said that, since statehood, authorities have resisted Alaska’s claims of ownership, management, and control:
“For reasons we really don’t know, we can’t answer, there’s certain federal agencies and certain federal agents that insist that they’re going to ignore some of these laws and some of the court actions. We’re not going to ignore them. We’re going to vigorously implement our sovereignty over our lands and our waters. We’d like to work with the federal government, but we’re not going to be subservient to the federal government on our lands and waters. They are our lands and waters.”
Acting DNR Commissioner, Akis Gialopsos said:
“The people of Alaska have owned thousands of miles of navigable waterways since statehood, and that ownership remains contested. The agreement of the federal government to state ownership of these two forks of the Fortymile River is an encouraging change from BLM, and signals the success of Governor Dunleavy’s initiative asserting the state’s rights to these lands that were awarded by the United States Constitution and affirmed by the United States Supreme Court.”
Dunleavy adds that, along with numerous other rivers and lakes, the Middle and North Forks of the Fortymile River are examples of wrongful determinations by federal authorities that required the state to go through the court system to redress federal overreach and claims of ownership.
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