U.S. top court backs moose hunter in Alaska hovercraft dispute

Source: Reuters

World | Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:24am EDT

U.S. top court backs moose hunter in Alaska hovercraft dispute

WASHINGTON | BY LAWRENCE HURLEY

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with an Alaska moose hunter who asserted that the federal government overstepped its authority in banning hovercraft on National Park Service land in the northernmost U.S. state.

The court, in a unanimous decision, handed a victory to John Sturgeon in his legal challenge to the U.S. government's power to prevent him from traveling through a federal preserve on his hovercraft to get to remote moose-hunting grounds.

The issues in the case touched upon the smoldering tensions over federal control of public lands, particularly in the western United States.

The ruling, by Chief Justice John Roberts, did not definitively decide the case. Instead, it was sent back to a lower court for further proceedings.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-moose-idUSKCN0WO205