Ambler v. Friends of Montana Streams and Rivers

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: April 17, 2026
• Docket: 25-1474
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS APR 17 2026 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

JOHN AMBLER; STACY AMBLER, No. 25-1474 D.C. No. Plaintiffs - Appellees, 9:23-cv-00151-KLD v. MEMORANDUM* FLATHEAD CONSERVATION DISTRICT,

Defendant - Appellee,

v.

FRIENDS OF MONTANA STREAMS AND RIVERS,

Intervenor-Defendant - Appellant.

JOHN AMBLER; STACY AMBLER, No. 25-1479 D.C. No. Plaintiffs - Appellees, 9:23-cv-00151-KLD

FLATHEAD CONSERVATION DISTRICT,

Defendant - Appellant,

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. and

Intervenor-Defendant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana Kathleen Louise DeSoto, Magistrate Judge, Presiding

Submitted April 15, 2026** Portland, Oregon

Before: OWENS, VANDYKE, and SUNG, Circuit Judges.

Appellants Friends of Montana Streams and Rivers (FMSR) and Flathead

Conservation District (FCD) appeal the district court’s order granting Appellees

John and Stacy Amblers’ motion for summary judgment, and denying FMSR and

FCD’s cross-motions for summary judgment, on the Amblers’ claim for

declaratory relief. The district court concluded that FCD lacks jurisdiction to

enforce the Natural Streambed and Land Preservation Act of 1975 (Streambed

Act), MONT. CODE ANN. § 75-7-101 et seq., against the Amblers on their private

property within Glacier National Park.

We review de novo the district court’s grant of declaratory relief. Cal. Ass’n

** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2).

2 25-1474 of Rural Health Clinics v. Douglas, 738 F.3d 1007, 1011 (9th Cir. 2013). We have

jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

1. In 1911, the State of Montana ceded jurisdiction to the United States

over private inholdings within Glacier National Park, and the United States

accepted that cession in 1914. 1911 Mont. Laws Sec. 1, Ch. 33 (codified at MONT.

CODE ANN. § 2-1-205); Act of Aug. 22, 1914, ch. 264 § 1, 38 Stat. 699 (codified at

16 U.S.C. § 163). Accordingly, “federal authority became the only authority

operating within the ceded area,” including “privately owned lands within the

described park boundaries.” Macomber v. Bose, 401 F.2d 545, 546–47 (9th Cir.

1968). The United States has exclusive legislative jurisdiction over private

inholdings within Glacier National Park, except to the extent that Montana

reserved powers at the time of cession. See Paul v. United States, 371 U.S. 245,

264–65, 268 (1963) (“[I]f the United States acquires with the ‘consent’ of the state

legislature land within the borders of that State . . . the jurisdiction of the Federal

Government becomes ‘exclusive.’” But “a State may condition its ‘consent’ upon

its retention of jurisdiction over the lands consistent with the federal use.”). In its

statute ceding jurisdiction, Montana reserved only the powers to serve process and

to tax within the ceded territory. MONT. CODE ANN. § 2-1-205; see also 16 U.S.C.

§ 163.

2. State law in effect at the time of cession is assimilated into federal

3 25-1474 law. See Macomber, 401 F.2d at 546. State civil statutes enacted after the cession,

however, are not assimilated into federal law unless they are part of the “same

basic scheme” that has been in effect since the time of cession. Paul, 371 U.S. at

269. The Streambed Act, enacted in 1975, regulates and provides a system for

approving construction along streambanks. MONT. CODE ANN. § 75-7-101 et seq.

It is not part of the “same basic scheme” as the laws in effect at the time of cession

that FMSR and FCD have identified. Those laws regulated the dumping of

sawmill debris in or near streams and permitted landowners to build docks and

wharves along navigable waters so long as they did not impede navigation. REV.

CODES MONT. (RCM) Title XVI, Ch. 1 § 8797 (1907); RCM Ch. 35, § 1985 (1915

Supp.); RCM Ch. 38 § 1 (1915 Supp.). The Streambed Act is not assimilated into

federal law as part of the same basic scheme in effect at the time of cession.

3. State criminal statutes are assimilated into federal law within the

ceded territory even if they are enacted after the time of cession. 18 U.S.C. § 13.

As FMSR and FCD point out, the Streambed Act has a criminal component.

MONT. CODE ANN. § 75-7-123(1)(a). However, “[a] law is not criminal[] simply

because the law is enforceable by criminal as well as civil means.” Quechan

Indian Tribe v. McMullen, 984 F.2d 304, 306 (9th Cir. 1993). “The shorthand test

is whether the conduct at issue violates the State’s public policy.” California v.

Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, 480 U.S. 202, 209 (1987), superseded by

4 25-1474 statute, Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Pub. L. No. 100-497, 102 Stat. 2467, as

recognized in Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Cmty., 572 U.S. 782 (2014). The

Streambed Act provides means for seeking approval of construction projects near

streams, indicating that its intent is to regulate, rather than prohibit, such

construction. Cf. United States v. Marcyes, 557 F.2d 1361, 1364 (9th Cir. 1977)

(holding that firework laws were criminal, rather than regulatory, because their

purpose was “to prohibit the[] general use and possession” of fireworks). The

Streambed Act is not a criminal law and therefore was not assimilated into federal

law when it was enacted in 1975.

4. Finally, FMSR argues that public policy and federalism concerns

support reading the cession statutes to give Montana authority to regulate private

property within Glacier National Park. These arguments do not support the

application of state law where the federal government has exclusive legislative

jurisdiction. Because Montana lacks concurrent legislative jurisdiction, there is no

basis to apply the Streambed Act to the Amblers’ property.

AFFIRMED.

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