Water Resources

Navigability of Lakes and Rivers

The FWS conducts title navigability research to document physical characteristics, land status, and present and historical use of specific refuge water bodies in order to determine who owns submerged lands beneath rivers and lakes within Alaska national wildlife refuges. Research results help identify the type and extent of past and present water-borne travel on rivers and lakes, socio-economics of the area, and alternative transportation routes.

Results of navigability research are used to guide river and lake management decisions and to help settle issues of disputed submerged land ownership that may exist between the State of Alaska and the United States . Navigability research results are used in judicial actions, such as "quiet title actions" or subsistence related litigation in the Federal courts.  Research results are also used in the BLM administrative processes where the State asserts title navigability and submerged land ownership, and applies for "recordable disclaimer of interest in lands" (RDI) under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA).  The Department of the Interior has disclaimed federal submerged land ownership of numerous navigable water bodies in four refuges since 2003.  At present (2008) the State has RDI applications pending for numerous water bodies of the Tetlin NWR, Yukon Delta NWR and Yukon Flats NWR.

Last updated: September 4, 2008

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