Page:John Sturgeon v. Bert Frost, in his official capacity as Alaska Regional Director of the National Park Service.pdf/41

Rh permit Jane to evade those rules entirely if she were to wade into the river or paddle along the bank in a canoe. She could toss her trash bag in the water and amp up her speakers with impunity. Under this reading, the Park Service would be powerless to stop her. Jane’s actions would likely harm flora and fauna on the banks of the river, which are public areas inside park boundaries. Jane’s trash also could drift from a navigable (and thus out-of-park, nonpublic) stretch of the Nation River into a nonnavigable (and thus in-park, public) stretch of the same river. So much for the Service’s duty to maintain the “environmental integrity” of the Charley River basin “in its undeveloped natural condition,” 16 U. S. C. §410hh(10).

How can the Service adequately protect Alaska’s rivers if it cannot regulate? What is more, how can it maintain nearby park areas, such as riverbanks or nonnavigable park waters downstream, if it has no power to check the contamination of navigable waters? To achieve Congress’ stated goals in creating Alaska’s parks, the Service must have some authority to protect navigable rivers within those parks.