Administrative Law—Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
Sturgeon v. Masica, No. 14-1209
The National Park Service promulgated regulations prohibiting the operation or use of hovercraft within all national parks. But the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) limits the applicability of national park regulations in Alaska for land that is not federally owned. A lawsuit was filed to challenge the enforcement of the hovercraft restriction on Alaska’s navigable rivers on the theory that the rivers are state land. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether ANILCA prevents the National Park Service from regulating hovercraft on Alaska’s navigable waterways.