Stewart L. Udall, Secretary of the Interior, and Karl E. Landstrom, Director, Bureau of Land Management v. Richard L. Oelschlaeger

McGOWAN, Circuit Judge:

Appellee sued in the District Court to compel the issuance to him of a final certificate and patent with respect to a homestead upon which he had made entry. The District Court, hearing the case on cross-motions for summary judgment, denied both without opinion, but remanded the case to the Interior Department on terms which in substance gave appellee the relief he sought. Appellants assert upon this appeal that neither of the two possible foundations of the District Court’s action are adequate. We agree.

I

The land in question is in Alaska, lying near the seaeoast. It…