ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – The National Park Service can ban hovercraft operating on Alaska rivers that flow through national preserves, a federal Appeals Court ruled Monday, in a case that has implications for who will manage state waterways.

A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded said the Park Service has regulatory authority over a river in a preserve even as Alaska since statehood has owned the riverbed.

“On remand from the Supreme Court, we again conclude that the federal government properly exercised it authority to regulate hovercraft use on the rivers wi...