United States v. Dan T. Kennedy

The United States brought this action to acquire by condemnation two tracts of land within the exterior boundaries of Mount McKinley National Park, in Alaska. Pursuant to a stipulation thereafter entered into with the owner of one of these tracts, an uncontested judgment was entered under which the government acquired that tract. Dan T. Kennedy, owner of the other tract, moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground that it did not state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

The motion was granted and an order dismissing the action as to the Kennedy tract was later entered. The trial court held that the complaint failed to disclose that there was statutory authority under which the Secretary of the Interior could condemn land in Mount McKinley National Park. 2The correctness of this determination is the only question before us on this appeal by the government.

The acts relating to the establishment, boundaries, and control of Mount McKinley National Park neither authorize nor forbid the acquisition of land by condemnation. Likewise, the general statutes relating to the jurisdiction and powers of the National Park Service, as such statutes existed in 1951 when the complaint…