McCabe
Home
Wise
Use Main Page
Izaak Walton League of America
| McCabe
Home
Wise
Use Main Page
|
W.J.
McCabe Chapter Izaak Walton League of America |
By John Myers
Duluth News-Tribune outdoors writer
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case that challenged the National Park Service's ability to set regulations on the border lakes in Voyageurs National Park.
The U.S. Attorney's office informed National Park Service officials Wednesday morning that the high court declined the case.
The lack of action by the high court upholds the decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that the Park Service has authority to set rules governing business activities on lakes in the park -- specifically tour boat concessions.
``I hope this ends it. It's something like 10 lawsuits now challenging the park that have failed, so I hope all the wasted time and taxpayers' money -- I hope that's all over now,'' said Barbara West, Voyageurs superintendent.
The case began in 1996 when two tour boat operators were convicted by a magistrate judge of operating unlicensed tour boats on Rainy Lake in the park, on the Minnesota-Ontario border. They were fined and put on probation because the Park Service allows only one concessionaire to operate a tour boat on Rainy Lake.
Carl Brown of Ranier and Harold Armstrong of Fort Frances, Ontario, appealed, saying the U.S. Park Service may have authority over the lands, but not the lakes within the park.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July to uphold the convictions. The judges referred back to a 1977 case -- also involving Brown -- that clearly stated that waters within the park's boundaries can be reasonably regulated by the park and that regulation has indeed been handed from the state to the federal government.
In the July decision, the judges affirmed ``the judgment of the district court on the ground that the state of Minnesota con- sented to the (National Park Service's) exercise of jurisdiction over business operations within (Voyageurs) including the operation of tour boats.''
Not only did the state concede to that federal authority, but the state Legislature actually sought federal authority by pushing creation of the 218,000-acre park and donating land, the judges noted. The court also quickly dismissed Brown's claims that 1842 and 1909 treaties prevent the Park Service from imposing rules on border lakes, noting the treaties clearly allow regulations on border waters so long as they are applied evenly to people from both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.
On Wednesday, Brown, who still owes $2,000 in federal court fines plus other expenses, said he may not pay the fines and may ``go to federal prison to prove a point.''
``The whole mess, with court fees and all, could be as high as $8,000. But I just may not pay it,'' Brown said. ``I haven't decide yet. But I don't think this issue is over at all.''
Brown blamed politics within the federal court system for his legal defeats and said he will continue to press the point, noting that Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch and several northern counties backed his effort in the criminal case in a joint effort to rein in federal control over northern Minnesota waters.
Brown said he raised more than $25,000 to pay legal fees in the case from people in many states fed up with federal agencies overstepping their authority.
``Carl Brown's name may fade but these legal issues will never die,'' Brown
said. ``If the states of Minnesota and Michigan and Montana, and Koochiching and
other counties back me on this, this issue has national implications...
unfortunately the Supreme Court, or any court, never got the chance to hear the
merits of the case.''