February 29, 2024

(Anchorage, AK) – On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason rejected the United States’ efforts to restrict the application of well-established federal law in determining whether the State of Alaska is the rightful owner of submerged lands below the upper North Fork of the Fortymile River.

The Fortymile River is 180 miles east of Fairbanks, near the Alaska border with Canada. The title for the upper 16 miles of the North Fork of Fortymile River is in dispute. The federal government does not recognize State title to the land.

“The Judge rejected the departure from well-established precedent that the federal government requested,” said Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. “The U.S. was attempting to end this case before the facts could be presented. We see the attempts by the federal government to block recognition of the State’s rightful ownership of these waterways without any real grounds to do so as simply a delay tactic and an attempt to drive up litigation costs on the State. We look forward to showing the court a robust body of evidence demonstrating navigability and confirming the State’s ownership of the upper North Fork.”

The federal government had asked the Judge to rule that commonly used watercraft could not be considered to determine if the river was navigable on the date of statehood; the judge declined, and instead held that travel by poling boats, canoes, inflatable rafts, motorboats, and airboats could be considered as evidence of the river’s susceptibility to trade and travel. This ruling paves the way for the State to demonstrate at trial that the river was navigable at statehood, and thus its bed below the ordinary high-water mark is owned by the State, not the federal government.

“Time and time again, the federal government demonstrates its animus towards the State of Alaska through its continued intransigence and opposition to acknowledging lands that belong to the people of this state, said Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner John Boyle.  The federal government’s claims that rivers such as the North Fork of the Fortymile are non-navigable are farcical. DNR is looking forward to the court’s recognition of our legal ownership of these lands and the end of unjustifiable federal overreach.”

The next step is setting a trial date.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.