Boaters await decision on John Day navigability

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Most of the John Day River in Eastern Oregon would be declared a navigable river, opening private land to boaters and anglers, under a recommendation by the Department of State Lands.

The draft report was prompted by a 1999 Marion County Circuit Court ruling that sections of the John Day met the criteria for a navigable river. Then, opposing sides could not agree last year on legislation that would have set out terms for public access to rivers around the state.

The issue of navigability has become increasingly contentious statewide, as farms and ranches where boaters and anglers were routinely allowed have been bought by people who do not want strangers in their backyards.

“We are not after more access to rivers,” said Gary Benson of the Association of Northwest Steelheaders, the sport fishing group that petitioned for the navigability study in 1997 and sued in 1999 on behalf of a fisherman cited for trespassing on the John Day. “We believe it’s about clarity.”

A public hearing is scheduled for June 22 in Fossil, and the State Land Board is to decide next April whether to declare the John Day navigable.

The 1859 law making Oregon a state declared the beds and banks of rivers up to the high water mark were owned by the state if they had been used for commercial purposes, such as moving logs or freight. So far, 11 rivers have been declared navigable and studies are pending on six more.

The 2002 declaration that the lower 37 1/2 miles of the Sandy River near Portland were navigable created an uproar among property owners.

The State Lands Board is to decide next month whether to authorize a study of the upper and middle stretches of the Rogue River, where the numbers of riverfront homes and anglers are both increasing.

Not as popular as the Deschutes and Rogue Rivers, the John Day is the second-longest free-flowing river in the nation. The river has seen increased use by rafters and anglers because of the scenic canyon stretch between Clarno and Cottonwood Bridge and world-class smallmouth bass fishing.

The study looked at 174 miles of the John Day from Kimberly, near the confluence with the North Fork of the John Day River down to Tumwater Falls, located 10 miles from where the John Day flows into the Columbia River.

The study concluded that the river has been used since statehood by sternwheelers, a survey crew boat, ferries, recreational boats and rafts, and to transport logs. Before statehood, Indians navigated the river in canoes. Most of the rafts, canoes and driftboats now using the river have draft shallow enough to negotiate the river even at low summer flows.

All or parts of the Columbia, Willamette, Coos, Coquille, Klamath, Rogue, Snake, Umpqua, Chetco, McKenzie and Sandy rivers have been declared navigable. Studies are pending on the middle and upper Rogue, the North Santiam river, the South Umpqua, the Trask, the Kilchis and the South Santiam.