Page:John Sturgeon v. Bert Frost, in his official capacity as Alaska Regional Director of the National Park Service.pdf/39

Rh solely to public lands within such units,” although the Secretary may acquire those lands and administer them as part of the unit. Ibid. ANILCA, in turn, defines “public lands” as nearly all “lands, waters, and interests therein” in which the United States has title. §§3102(1)–(3). Crucially, Alaska has title to the lands under its navigable waters. See n. 2, supra. If the Service’s ordinary authority over navigable waters within park boundaries is diminished in Alaska relative to everywhere else in the United States, all agree that ANILCA §103(c) is the culprit.

Thus we arrive at the crux of this case: How, if at all, does ANILCA §103(c) circumscribe the Service’s ordinary authority over navigable rivers within the geographic boundaries of national parks?

I agree with the Court that the Service may not treat every navigable river in Alaska as legally part of Alaska’s parks merely because those (nonpublic) rivers flow within park boundaries. The majority ably explains why ANILCA’s text leads to this outcome. See ante, at 16–20. According to ANILCA §103(c), navigable waters (at least apart from Wild and Scenic Rivers) must be treated as waters outside of park units for legal purposes. Thus they may not be “subject to the regulations applicable solely to public lands within such units.” 16 U. S. C. §3103(c).