Opinion ID: 677890
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Existence of Serious Questions

Text: 18 The district court's ruling that the case presents serious questions was undoubtedly correct. Indeed, none of the parties has argued that the questions are not serious. 19 The major question is whether, for purposes of ANILCA, public lands include navigable waters. More accurately stated, the question is whether the Secretary's regulation interpreting ANILCA to exclude navigable waters from the definition of public lands is unreasonable. See 57 Fed.Reg. 22,941-42 (May 29, 1992) (effective July 1, 1992); Chugach Alaska Corp. v. Lujan, 915 F.2d 454, 457 (9th Cir.1990) (court must defer to a federal agency's reasonable interpretation of a statute). 20 The statute defines public lands as lands, waters and interests therein, situated in Alaska, the title to which is in the United States. See 16 U.S.C. Sec. 3102. 3 The Villages present a serious question whether the United States retains reserved water rights for the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge that constitute the necessary federal interest in the waters in dispute. See Pub.L. No. 96-487, Title III, Sec. 303(6)(B)(iii)-(iv), 94 Stat. 2392 (purposes of Togiak National Wildlife Refuge); S.Rep. No. 96-413, 96th Cong. 2nd Sess. 195, 1980 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5070, 5139 (legislative history); Cappaert v. United States, 426 U.S. 128, 139, 96 S.Ct. 2062, 2069-70, 48 L.Ed.2d 523 (1976) (government withdrawal of land for federal purpose includes implied reservation of water needed to accomplish that purpose); United States v. New Mexico, 438 U.S. 696, 702, 98 S.Ct. 3012, 3015, 57 L.Ed.2d 1052 (1978) (water rights implied only where water is necessary to fulfill the very purposes for which a federal reservation was created). 21 The Villages also present a serious question whether the navigational servitude held by the United States on navigable waters constitutes the necessary federal interest in the waters in question. See Amoco Prod. Co. v. Village of Gambell, 480 U.S. 531, 549 n. 15, 107 S.Ct. 1396, 1406 n. 15, 94 L.Ed.2d 542 (1987); Boone v. United States, 944 F.2d 1489, 1494-95 & n. 9 (9th Cir.1991) (discussing unique nature of navigational servitude); 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1635(l )(1) (Alaska's lands are subject to federal easements). But see City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016, 1027 n. 6 (9th Cir.1986) (commenting that navigational servitude is not public land within meaning of ANILCA). 22 Although we affirm this finding of the district court on the record, two later developments illustrate the correctness of the ruling. In a case being jointly managed with this one, the district court entered a decision finding in favor of an Alaska Native asserting a claim similar to that of the Villages here; the decision relied on the navigational servitude of the United States. Katie John v. United States, No. CV-90-0484 consolidated with No. CV-92-0264, 1994 WL 487830 (D.Alaska Mar. 30, 1994). That decision has been appealed to this circuit. At oral argument in the present case, the United States advised us that it had changed its position in Katie John and on appeal was conceding that its reserved water rights sufficed as an interest in the waters for purposes of ANILCA. 23 We express no opinion on the merits of either theory advanced by the Villages in this case, or on the merits of the Katie John decision or the government's position on appeal of that decision. It is clear, however, that the issues presented are serious questions, and we need say no more.