Governor Mike Dunleavy announced a lawsuit that asks the courts to recognize state ownership of submerged lands within Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. He also announced a Notice of Trespass and cease-and-desist letters recently sent to the Agriculture and Interior Departments for federal infrastructure, such as docks, that lacks permits on State-owned submerged lands.
In a press conference, Dunleavy said:
“Since we became a state in ’59 this has been an ongoing issue with the federal government. We have agreements. We have supreme court rulings. We have the law behind us. 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 these 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.”
To date, the federal government has acknowledged the state’s title to only 9% of Alaska’s submerged lands under 800,000 miles of navigable rivers, and 16% of Alaska’s submerged lands under 30 million acres of navigable lakes.
Dunleavy adds:
“The fact of the matter is we are a state within a federalist system. Agreements have been made. Agreements need to be implemented. What we’re doing is pressing our case, it’s a legal case, and we’ll continue to do so. We simply want our lands and our waters. We’re going to use our lands and our waters. If the federal government has structures on our land and waters or they’re planning on putting structures on our lands and our waters, they need to have a discussion with us first.”
In the Submerged Lands Act, the federal government promised all states the right to own lands and resources beneath navigable lakes, rivers, and offshore waters. Rights granted under the act are immediately acquired upon statehood and can’t be denied or taken away later by the federal government.
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