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Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Round 2 at High Court for Alaskan Hovercraft Hunter

An Alaska hunter who wants to use his hovercraft to hunt moose persuaded the Supreme Court to take up his case Monday for the second time.

WASHINGTON (CN) - An Alaska hunter who wants to use his hovercraft to hunt moose persuaded the Supreme Court to take up his case Monday for the second time.

After its last hearing on John Sturgeon’s case, the Supreme Court found that the Ninth Circuit failed to recognize the unique conditions of Alaska that usually make the state the exception, not the rule, when it comes to Nation Park Service regulations.

On remand from the Supreme Court, however, the Ninth Circuit again ruled against Sturgeon, finding that the U.S. government had authority to regulate Sturgeon’s use of a hovercraft on the federally protected Nation River.

Sturgeon’s latest petition for certiorari, which he filed this past January, asks whether the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act prohibits the National Park Service from exercising regulatory control over state, tribal or private land that overlaps with the National Park System in Alaska.

Per its custom, the Supreme Court did not issue any comment in taking up the case Monday.

Sturgeon is represented by Matthew Findley with Ashburn & Mason in Anchorage.

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Categories / Appeals, Environment, Government

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