John & Stacey Ambler’s fight for their dream home along McDonald Creek was front-and-center with Federal Judge Kathleen DeSoto Wednesday morning.
The Amblers are deep into construction of their home on McDonald Creek, on private property in the park. They thought they were being meticulous–complying with every regulation and obtaining every permit. But they missed one…a 310 permit, which could lead to the dismantling of the couple’s dream home, which lies unfinished along the Creek.
The question before Judge DeSoto is this: does the Flathead Conservation District have the right to demand the Ambler’s home be dismantled. The Amblers contend that their private property predates Glacier National park, created in 1910. Thus, they say, the State lost any claim to regulate the land.
Flathead Conservation District’s attorney Camisha Sawtelle argues that private property–surrounded by the Park, remains under state control.
Judge DeSoto called the arguments, “interesting’. She said her interpretation of underlying case law is that the state laws that existed at the time of the cession are assimilated. Applying that logic, it’s not extraordinary for the federal court to, for example, adjudicate water rights or easements inside the park’s boundaries because there was a body of state law governing water rights and easements prior to the creation of Glacier National Park. But, she continues, “the 310 law was a completely new statute that was created many decades after the creation of Glacier National Park.”
