State v. Norton
Attorney: Heather Kendall-Miller

Case Update

On January 5, 2005, the State of Alaska filed a lawsuit in the District of Columbia challenging the final rule implementing the mandate in the prior subsistence case, John v. United States. The prior case established that the United States must protect subsistence uses of fisheries in navigable waters where the United States possesses a reserved water right. The State challenges the Secretaries’ implementation of the mandate by arguing that the reserved waters doctrine requires a quantification of waters necessary to fulfill specific purposes. On January 18, Katie John filed a motion for limited intervention for purposes of filing a motion to dismiss for failure to join an indispensable party. The United States filed a motion to transfer venue to Alaska in February, 2005. Judge Collyer entered an Order on July 9, 2005 transferring the case to the District of Alaska. The case was then consolidated with John v. Norton.

On May 17, 2007, the district court entered an Order upholding the agency’s rule-making process identifying navigable waters in Alaska that fall within federal jurisdiction for purposes of Title VIII’s subsistence priority.