The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the case of John Sturgeon challenging the rights of the National Park Service to regulate Alaskan parks waterways. Senator Lisa Murkowski described the case as one that shows the definition of Alaskans and the state’s sovereignty.
Sen. Murkowski: “We’re seeing this not just in the John Sturgeon case. We’re seeing this with other agencies that are basically extending their jurisdiction, their oversight, basically their overreach and saying well the regulations allow us to do this because the statute isn’t clear and it’s kind of this mission creep that we talk about. At some point in time it’s got to be challenged because if it’s not challenged it’s going to continue.”
The case started in 2007 when national park staff contacted Sturgeon during his annual moose hunt on the Nation River, telling him he could not use his hovercraft due to a nationwide ban.
Sturgeon filed a claim against the National Park Service in 2011 saying a provision of the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act withholds federal authority from navigable waterways in the state’s parks.
After hearing oral arguments Wednesday, a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court is expected in the next few months.
Sen. Murkowski has voiced disapproval of too many federal regulations regarding Alaska in other cases such as Shell’s Arctic exploration, EPA rules on Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS), and even gun control.
She says she thinks the State of Alaska and Sturgeon did a good job of challenging federal overreach by testifying before the Supreme Court Wednesday.