Judge Confirms State Ownership of Mosquito Fork Submerged Lands

The U.S. Department of Justice has conceded and U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason Tuesday is signed an order confirming that the State of Alaska owns the submerged lands of the Fortymile River’s Mosquito Fork. This is a successful outcome for the State of Alaska, which filed a lawsuit in 2012 seeking to confirm state ownership of these lands. For decades, the ownership of the Mosquito Fork’s submerged lands has been a source of contention between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the State of Alaska. The beds of nearly all navigable waters in Alaska are owned by the state, but in this case, BLM disputed the navigability of all but 1.5 river miles of the Mosquito Fork. The State claimed ownership of roughly 80.5 river miles and much of those submerged lands lie within BLM’s Fortymile Wild and Scenic River Corridor...more

Normally the feds are on the other side of the navigability issue, claiming navigability to obtain jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.  But when it comes to submerged lands and Wild & Scenic rivers, they reverse policy, doing whatever it takes to maintain ownership/control.