¶1Mr. Clair M. Senior, of the bar of the Supreme Court of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, pro hac vice, by special leave of Court, with whom Mr. Melville Ehrlich, Washington, D. C., was on the brief, for appellants.
¶2Mr. George S. Swarch, of the bar of the Supreme Court of California, pro hac vice, by special leave of Court, with whom Mr. Roger P. Marquis, Washington, D. C., was on the brief, for appellee Douglas McKay.
¶3Mr. William W. Clary, of the bar of the Supreme Court of California, Los Angeles, Cal., pro hac vice, by special leave of Court, with whom Messrs. Albert Noble McCartney and Hugh Fullerton, Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for appellees Signal Oil and Gas Company and Southwest Exploration Company.
¶4Before PRETTYMAN, WILBUR K„ MILLER, and BASTIAN, Circuit Judges.
¶6Between 1938 and 1947 our appellants, or persons through whom they claim, filed with the Secretary of the Interior separate applications under the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920 1 for oil and *30gas leases of submerged lands off the coast of California. These lands are located below the line of mean low tide and within the three-mile limit. In 1948 appellants’ applications were denied, on the ground that the lands in question were not subject to disposition under the Mineral Lands Leasing Act. Appellants then brought this suit against the Secretary, seeking an adjudication that the Act applied to lands under the marginal seas. Additional parties were allowed to intervene as defendants. The District Court concluded that the Mineral Lands Leasing Act applied only to public lands and that public lands do not include lands beneath the marginal seas. Judgment was entered for the defendants. This appeal followed.
¶7In support of its conclusion the District Court rendered a memorandum opinion.2 We think its reasoning was sound and we need not repeat it here. Appellants, however, say the court failed to give effect to several decisions of the Supreme Court. We consider this contention briefly.
¶8Appellants first cite Hynes v. Grimes Packing Co.3 There the Secretary of the Interior had been authorized to designate as Indian reservations in Alaska “any … public lands which are actually occupied by Indians or Eskimos within said Territory”.4 The argument was made that this authorization did not extend to certain fisheries beyond the line of mean low tide. The Supreme Court rejected the contention. It made clear, however, that the conclusion rested upon “the history and habits of Alaska natives and the course of administration of Indian affairs in that Territory.” 5 The Court was not dealing generally with lands located beneath the marginal seas; it was dealing with particular lands and with the necessity of fitting the statute before it into an “existing system” of custom and administration. Its decision lends no support to appellants’ proposition that all lands under the marginal seas are public lands subject generally to disposal under the Mineral Lands Leasing Act.
¶9 Appellants also rely upon State of Alabama v. Texas (State of Rhode Island v. Louisiana).6These were companion cases in which the Supreme Court denied leave to file complaints challenging the power of Congress to quitclaim to certain states the interest of the United States in lands under the marginal seas.7 In a short Per Curiam, opinion the Court spoke of the power of Congress to dispose of “public lands” and lands within the “public domain”. But the Court was dealing with the power of Congress to dispose of those lands by special enactment. It decided only that Congress exercised proprietary rights over lands beneath the marginal seas and that those rights could be relinquished. The term “public lands” was thus *31used generally to designate lands subject to disposal as property of the United States.8 It by no means, follows that lands so designated are also subject to disposal under general laws such as the Mineral Lands Leasing Act. In the case at bar the District Court recognized and relied upon the distinction. It held, after careful consideration, that Congress did not intend to apply the Mineral Lands Leasing Act to lands under the marginal seas where problems of survey and administration would be wholly different from those contemplated in the statute. We think this conclusion is consistent with the Supreme Court decisions cited by appellants. The judgment of the District Court will therefore be
¶10Affirmed.