A federal judge ruled in favor of John and Stacy Ambler, allowing their private home on the banks of McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park to remain. The Flathead Conservation District had ordered the home to be removed for violating the Montana Streambed Protection Act, but the judge ruled that the Conservation District lacked jurisdiction to enforce state law within the boundaries of the park.

The court found that when Congress created Glacier National Park in 1910, it specifically excluded privately owned property, and the State of Montana ceded exclusive jurisdiction over all land within the park to the federal government. The federal government only adopts state laws that were in effect at the time of the transfer of jurisdiction, and the Montana Streambed law passed in 1976 did not apply to the Ambler property.

The Conservation District and intervenors claimed the Ambler’s home violated the National Environmental Policy Act, but the judge found that claim went beyond the scope of the case. The court ruled that the Conservation District did not have legislative jurisdiction to enforce the Streambed Act on the Ambler Property, as the federal government had exclusive authority over all land within Glacier National Park.