Federal lands are governed by a complex thicket of laws built up over more than a century, often with too little thought to how the different generations fit together. The Supreme Court confronted that problem last week, when it considered whether federal permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline are void because the pipeline would pass several hundred feet below the Appalachian Trail.
The challengers argue that only Congress can approve a pipeline right-of-way because the trail is the equivalent of a national park. Because Atlantic Coast’s permit was from the Forest Service, they argue, it is invalid. From there, things get complicated quickly.
The trail isn’t a national park. But the Secretary of Interior has delegated the trail’s management to the National Park Service. So the challengers argue that the trail is “lands in the National Park System”–which, they further argue, means it has to be treated as if a…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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