The state of Alaska has reignited a long-running fight over control of about 20,000 acres now part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Citing alleged errors by the Interior Board of Land Appeals, the state filed suit Monday in a bid to take the disputed property from the federal government.
“This lawsuit seeks to vindicate the state of Alaska’s sovereign territorial rights by challenging the arbitrary and capricious conduct of the United States government that has resulted in a federal land grab of over 20,000 acres that properly belong to the people of Alaska,” the suit brought by Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor declares.
Joined by attorneys with the Denver-based firm Davis Graham & Stubbs, the state’s Assistant Attorney General Ronald Opsahl wrote in the suit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska that the land appeals board “disregarded evidence” and “arbitrarily discounted maps” in an April 2 decision.
