Ferndale, California
2005 Kinetic Sculpture Race photos
2004 Kinetic Sculpture Race photos
Facts about Ferndale
Population: In 2000, the population of Ferndale was 1380, rising to 1430 by 2002. The population of Humboldt County was 126,518 in 2000.Location: Ferndale is located in Humboldt County, California, about 12 miles south of Eureka. It is 265 miles, about a five hour drive, north of San Francisco via U.S. Route 101; or about an eight hour drive south of Portland via Interstate 5, Rt. 199, and Rt. 101. The nearest commercial airport is Arcata, about 45 minutes from Ferndale, with about 14 United Express flights each day connecting with San Francisco or Sacramento; and two Horizon Air flights to Portland and Redding.
Weather: Ferndale's climate is moderated by the Pacific Ocean, only five miles away. Summers are cool, with normal highs in the 60s, and dry. Morning fog is common. Winters are mild and rainy, with normal highs in the 50s and about 41 inches of precipitation in an average year (more in the nearby mountains), almost all of it falling between October and April. Freezing temperatures are rare.
Terrain: Ferndale is located on the level terraces of the Eel River delta, with the coast ranges rising to the south and east. Areas to the immediate south are generally below 2000 feet. Some inland peaks exceed 4,000 feet.
Public lands: Russ Park is within the Ferndale city limits (details below). There is an extensive trail system. Lost Coast Headlands, a recently acquired BLM site with coastal grassland and northern coastal scrub habitat, is about seven miles to the southwest of Ferndale. Other public open space within a 30 minute drive includes Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS), Headwaters Forest (BLM), and Humboldt Redwoods State Park. At slightly greater distances (one to two hours) are Redwood National Park, Six Rivers National Forest, and King Range Conservation Area.
More About Ferndale:
Ferndale is like something out of a John Cowper Powys novel. Often listed among the classics of English language literature, Powys works are set in the west English countryside of the 1930s. In this largely pre-automobile culture, the complex characters walk everywhere, and are constantly interacting with each other. A sense of human history pervades the land. The landscape is ever present, the sea, the rocky beaches, the bluffs, the green countryside. The climate, cool and sometimes rainy, is not unlike that of Ferndale.
This morning, I walked down to Main Street to send a fax and pick up the mail. It's about a five minute walk, short enough to be enjoyable. Over the span of half an hour, I had seven extended conversations with friends and acquaintances randomly encountered on the sidewalk, and several more brief "good mornings," a few of them with total strangers. When I lived in Chicago, I'd pass tens of thousands of people on the subway and the downtown streets but could go days at a time without any meaningful interaction outside of home or office.
Ferndale works because people still walk to Main Street. The fine texture and scale of the community remain largely intact. Many American communities were once like this. Most were destroyed by post-World War II "modernization." Four miles off the highway, and populated by stubborn and independent individuals, Ferndale changed slowly. Whether by intent or accident, the worst aspects of modernization were avoided here. Part of it was timing. After the 1964 flood devastated the surrounding ranching community, many of the Main Street stores were empty. With the help of Viola Russ McBride and a few other visionary local residents, artists took over some of the empty buildings. I was only a child when it happened, and 2000 miles away, so have only heard the stories; but clearly, it worked. Today Main Street balances tourism attracted by Ferndale's Victorian architecture with a variety of small service businesses and a few art galleries. Ferndale currently has the highest median home value in Humboldt County (although it's still a bargain by big-city standards).
The Congress for the New Urbanism has prepared guidelines to encourage the creation of communities where quality of life reigns supreme. They are, in essence, a blueprint for building a modern version of Ferndale. The concepts are simple; suburban sprawl, with its wide roads, absence of sidewalks, vast parking lots, and cul-de-sacs, is discouraged. Instead, mixed-use commercial districts with attractive close to the street building facades encourage pedestrian activity. Apartments over shops ensure that people actually inhabit the commercial area; thus there is always some street activity. Cars are not banned, but instead vehicle use and pedestrian use are balanced. The community as a whole has clear boundaries, with most new development occurring as infill. Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) ordinances overlay older zoning codes, and offer incentives such as streamlined permitting for preferred types of development.
Ferndale is changing again, maybe as profoundly as it did in the 1960s. Increasingly, urban refugees are buying property here; some of them are retired couples. The logging industry which was so prevalent in Humboldt County's past has faded to a shadow of its former self, and today provides only about two percent of regional jobs. The largest employment sectors today are government, services (especially health care), and retail trade, together providing almost three-quarters of all jobs in the county. With completion last year of a new fiber optic line from the Bay Area, the information economy increasingly allows individuals and companies to pursue projects worldwide while enjoying the benefits of a more casual lifestyle.
It's not perfect. There are a few individuals here who are seriously stuck in the past. Those who have not travelled much know only one way to do things. But there is a lot to be said for the old ways, too. Our challenge is to balance the new and the old.
This is a good place. There is much here that has been lost elsewhere. I could have gone almost anywhere; I chose to come here.
Over the next eight years, the county population is projected to grow from about 128,000 to more than 142,000. Ferndale has limited space left for growth. Some difficult decisions lie ahead.
A Brief Ecology of Russ Park
Russ Park is a 105-acre preserve located at the southern edge of Ferndale, where the Wildcat Hills (part of the coast range) rise abrubtly above the nearly level residential areas. Located within easy walking distance of Main Street, and of much of the city, elevations in the park range from about 60 feet to 480 feet above sea level. An extensive system of foot trails is maintained by volunteers.
The slopes above Ferndale were clearcut and grazed as early as the mid-1850s; old turn of the century photos looking down Main Street show most of the higher ground with only scattered small trees. The parcel which was to become the park was donated to the city in 1920 by Zipporah Patrick Russ, and by then the forest had begun to regenerate. Today, mature Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) - grand fir (Abies grandis) forest dominates the north facing slopes which make up much of the park. Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is more prevalent on south facing slopes. Red alder (Alnus rubra) occurs on ravine slopes and where there has been recent landslide activity. A few redwoods were planted about 1930. In most areas ground layer vegetation, including sword fern and various other ferns, is lush. Streams within the park are steep and ephemeral, flowing only after substantial rainfall. Zipporah's pond, on an upper ridge, was excavated; it usually holds water except in late summer.
Sitka spruce stands near Ferndale are outliers near the southern limits of the range, and here they are found only within a few miles of the coast. According to Sawyer and Keeler-Wolf (1995), "old-growth stands of Sitka spruce are rare in northern California. Most stands are in shrub or young forest stages." Thus, although not pristine, the up to 130 year old stand at Russ Park is unusual for this region.
Zinke (1988) further characterizes the vegetation along an east-west transect located about two miles south of Ferndale:
"In the transect at 40 degrees 32' 54" N, a Sitka spruce-grand fir-Douglas fir forest extends inland across the Wildcat Hills for nearly 25 km to the Eel River valley. Here, red alder appears as a seral stage after logging of spruce and fir. This spruce-fir forest is apparently related to a strong northwest wind exposure in the Wildcat Hills south of Ferndale. Beyond 24 km inland, redwood first appears on this transect in a wind-sheltered ravine near Rohnerville."On a hike through Russ Park, the overwhelming impression is of a green and moist place. Moss covers fallen logs, which in turn hide under sprawling ferns. The textured bark of Sitka spruce rises out of this riot of green. Pale gray-green epiphytes, moss like, hang from some of the branches. From near the top of the hill, one can look out over the Eel River delta, and see the ocean waves crashing onto the shore. A bench has been carefully placed in a tranquil spot looking out over Zipporah's pond, with it's light-green coat of algae. A rope swing hangs out over the water, and the large dark green leaves of skunk cabbage unfurl over the water.
Wildlife is present but not always seen. Once I encountered a bear, which crashed off through the underbrush. Usually smaller and more peaceful animals are visible, if one looks closely. Birds flit through the trees. Northwestern Salamanders, Wandering Salamanders, California Slender Salamanders, and Common Ensatinas hide under the logs. Red-legged Frogs and Pacific Chorus Frogs breed in the pond. On wet days, pale green or yellow banana slugs seem to be every few feet along the trails.
References:
Colwell, W., J. DeLapp, E. Gladish, and J. Mallory. 1959. Soil-vegetation map, legend and interpretation, SE 1/4 Ferndale quadrangle 27C4. California Cooperative Soil-Vegetation Survey. Pacific SW Forest and Range Exp. Sta., Berkeley, CA.
Sawyer, J., and T. Keeler-Wolf. 1995. A Manual of California Vegetation. California Native Plant Society.
Zinke, P. J. 1988. The redwood forest and associated north coast forests. Pp. 679-698 in: M. G. Barbour and J. Major (eds.), Terrestrial Vegetation of California. California Native Plant Society.
Resources for traditional urban planning:
Duany, Andres, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck. 2000. Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. North Point Press, New York.
Calthorpe, Peter. 1993. The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community, and the American Dream. Princeton Architectural Press, New York.
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Kenneth S. Mierzwa -- shadowplay2@mac.com
March 26, 2006 |