Overturning a three-year-old decision, the United States Supreme Court on January 12 declared that ownership disputes concerning the beds of intrastate navigable water henceforth must be decided as a matter of state law, rather than federal common law. Oregon ex rel. State Land Board v. Corvallis Sand and Gravel Co.,¹ in which the state sought to eject a sand company from parcels it had been mining in Oregon's Willamette River, signals a retrenchment by the Court from adjudicating complicated riparian rights controversies that it feels can adequately be decided by state courts. In narrowing the scope of federal common law,² the Court has thrust upon the states the added responsibility of ensuring that the results of such land disputes do not impair the public trust in state riverbed resources.

The controversy in Corvallis arose out of the state of Oregon's action to eject the sand company from parcels on which it had been mining for over 40 years. The parcels, in what is known as the Fischer Cut, were not part of the riverbed when Oregon was admitted to the Union. After a gradual shift in the river's course across Fischer Cut during its high-water stages and following a major flood in 1909, the parcels became part of the river's main channel.