Aqua Log, Inc, a Georgia corporation v. Lost and Abandoned Pre-Cut Logs and Rafts of Logs

COX, Circuit Judge:

These cases present a question that is almost as old as the doctrine of admiralty jurisdiction itself. As Justice Daniel posed it in 1857, “[T]he inquiry is naturally suggested, what are navigable waters?” Jackson v. The Steamboat Magnolia, 61 U.S. (20 How.) 296, 320, 15 L.Ed. 909 (1857) (Daniel, J., dissenting). Today, we answer that question as follows: a waterway is navigable for admiralty-jurisdiction purposes if, in its present state, it is capable of supporting commercial activity.

I. FACTS & PROCEDURAL HISTORY

These consolidated appeals concern segments of two Georgia…