Gov. Mike Dunleavy sent a letter to President Joe Biden asserting state management of the more than 800,000 miles of rivers and 30 million acres of navigable lakes in Alaska, expressing the intent for the state to exercise its authority to manage them and the related submerged lands under state law.
Dunleavy spoke in a press conference Friday, “We don’t want this to be taken as a threat. That’s not what this is about, but what it is is a clear authority that the state of Alaska has. The supreme court has ruled on this issue more than once, twice 9-0 which was unprecedented in determining the issue of navigable waters and who has sovereignty over those navigable waters, which is the state of Alaska. From this point forward, the navigable waters in Alaska that have been defined as having Alaskan jurisdiction over them, we will be accessing those waters from this point forward.”
The state is asserting its management rights over the vast network of navigable waters and submerged lands it received at statehood and will move to promote their use and enjoyment to serve the interests of Alaskans. Governor Dunleavy also directed the Department of Natural Resources Commissioner to send letters to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture telling them to cease management oversight of such lands within conservation units and refer users to state authorities.
The governor said, “The desire is to work collaboratively with the federal government and with the agencies, however when it comes to anymore questions as to whether who has the right, Alaskans, to be on their waters, rivers, streams, lakes, and other bodies that are going to be identified on our DNR website, it’s going to be made clear that Alaska is, in fact, the sovereign and Alaskans have the right to use those waters in a fashion that’s been lined out.”
The Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service manage more than 200 million acres in Alaska. According to a press release, the federal government has acknowledged Alaska’s clear title to 16% of state-owned lakes, and to submerged lands under only 9% of state owned-rivers. The governor states that by retaining management of the rest, federal authorities block Alaskans from recreational and commercial use of these resources generally allowed under state law. The action comes on the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sturgeon v. Frost, in which it ruled that John Sturgeon had the right to cross navigable waters to access state hunting grounds, even if the waters passed through the Yukon-Charley National Preserve.
Additional information on Governor Dunleavy’s Unlocking Alaska Initiative can be found here. Governor Dunleavy’s letter to President Biden can be found here.