NORTHWEST STEELHEADERS ASS'N v. Simantel

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that segments of the John Day River were navigable at the time of statehood after considering the fact that the river’s flow had been substantially reduced since statehood by irrigation withdrawals and channel degradation attributable to upstream mining operations
• concluding, on de novo review, that river segments were susceptible of navigation at time of statehood, based on hydrologic conditions of the river and evidence of post-statehood use — including modern recreational boating, a log drive, and sternwheeler traffic
• considering draft characteristics of dugout canoes used by “various Native American tribes in the Columbia River basin” and those of modern boats in concluding that river was susceptible to navigation
• \[T]he segments of the John Day River at issue here. . . .\ (Emphasis added.)
• “[T]he test for title navigability is, in fact, disjunctive: to sustain a state’s claim to ownership of submerged lands, the river must have been either actually used for travel and trade at the time of statehood or susceptible for such use at the time of statehood.” (Emphases in original.)

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).