THE HUMBOLDT BAY HARBOR DISTRICT:

10 Humboldt HistorianSpring 2013

In 1970, an act authored by State Senator Randolph Collier, adopt-

ed by the California Legislature, and signed by Governor Ronald Reagan, added Appendix 2 of the California Harbors and Navigation Code. This act provided for the establishment of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Rec-reation and Conservation District approved by Humboldt County vot-ers in 1973 in a special countywide election.

The five original Harbor Commis-sioners, elected by supervisorial dis-

THE HUMBOLDT BAY HARBOR DISTRICT: THE FIRST THIRTY-ONE YEARS (1973-2004)

The author, who provided legal counsel for the Humboldt Bay District for thirty years, gives a firsthand history of its formation and accomplishments.

By Jeremiah Scott, Jr.

trict boundaries, were Robert Dav-enport, 1st District; William J. “Bill” Startare, 2nd District; James A. Gast, 3rd District; Harold Christensen, 4th District; and Richard L. Ridenhour, 5th District.

THE FIRST HARBOR COMMISSIONERS

On May 18, 1973, the Harbor Commission held its first meeting and elected Commissioner Rich-ard Ridenhour first president of the

Board of Commissioners; William “Bill” Startare, vice president; and Robert Davenport, secretary. By forming the Humboldt Bay Harbor District, the Harbor District be-came the owner of all ungranted tide and submerged lands in Humboldt Bay previously owned by the State of California. The Harbor District Board of Commissioners had statu-tory regulatory authority over all of Humboldt Bay waters to the limit of tidal action (Section 5 and 5.5 of the act).

HU

MB

OLD

T B

AY H

AR

BO

R D

ISTR

ICT

11 Humboldt Historian Spring 2013

The original five harbor commis-sioners had varied Humboldt Coun-ty experiences:

1. Robert Davenport operated a ship chandlery and fueling facility on Humboldt Bay as an employee or owner for over fifty years. As a teen Sea Scout he boated in Humboldt Bay.

2. Bill Startare graduated from Eu-reka High School and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was the owner of an ambulance, taxicab and bus business in Hum-boldt County.

3. James A. Gast served in the U.S. Marine Corps and received a PhD in oceanography at the University of Washington in 1960. He served 1961-1992 as a professor of ocean-ography at HSU. He chaired the De-partment of Oceanography and was the first director of the HSU Marine Lab at Trinidad.

4. Harold Christensen was a Eure-ka native and served in the U.S. Navy in WWII. He operated a commercial fishing vessel in Humboldt Bay for several years and served as president of the Humboldt Fishermen’s Mar-keting Association.

5. Richard Ridenhour attended Humboldt State, graduating in fish-eries. He obtained a PhD in fisheries at Iowa State University. Ridenhour

served HSU as a professor of fisheries and was the dean for Academic Plan-ning. He served as a Harbor District commissioner until December 1979, and in 1981 he became dean of the School of Natural Resources at HSU.

In June 1974, the board of com-missioners appointed this writer, Jeremiah Scott, Jr., Eureka attorney, as attorney for the Humboldt Bay Harbor District. I would go on to serve as legal counsel for the board of commissioners for a period of thirty years, until I retired as district counsel on July 1, 2004.

In January 1975, the board of com-missioners appointed Jack B. Alder-son as chief executive officer to oper-ate the day-to-day administration of the Humboldt Bay Harbor District. Alderson served twenty-one years as chief executive officer until his retire-ment in 1996. Alderson received his bachelor of science degree in 1956 from the California Maritime Acad-emy. He served as a U.S. naval officer, active and reserve, ensign to lieuten-ant commander. His naval service included fleet duty and executive officer of a mobile undersea warfare team. He served as an advisor to the Iranian Navy and as a commander of a light tug division. After retirement from the navy, Alderson served as a harbor manager at Avalon (Catalina Island) and at Marina Del Rey.

In February 1975, CEO Jack Al-derson, with confirmation by the board of commissioners, appointed Gerald O. Hansen, CPA, as Harbor District treasurer. Hansen received a bachelor of arts degree in account-ing and a master’s degree in business at Humboldt State University. Han-sen would serve as Harbor District treasurer until his death on March 26, 2002. The freshwater pond adja-cent to the entrance to the Woodley Island Marina is named the Gerald O. Hansen Wildlife Area in honor of Treasurer Hansen’s service to the Harbor District.

THE SCOPE OF THE NEW ACT

Section 19 of Appendix 2, the new Harbor District Act of the California Harbors and Navigation Code (“The Act”), gave certain duties, powers and responsibilities to the Board of Commissioners as follows:

The board of commissioners shall draft a master plan for harbor and port improvement and for the use of all of the tidelands and submerged lands which shall be conveyed to the district pursuant to the provisions of this act and other lands or areas subject to its jurisdiction. The board may

Jack Alderson, 1990, first chief execu-tive officer for the Harbor District, a post he held for twenty-one years.

Richard Ridenhour, 1974, first presi-dent of the Harbor District Board of Commissioners.

Opposite: Woodley Island Ma-rina groundbreaking, June 1979. From left: Harbor District Com-missioner Richard Ridenhour, Congressman Don Clausen, Commissioner Bob Davenport (with back to camera), Commis-sioner Mal Coombs, Joyce Star-tare (widow of Commissioner Bill Startare), Commissioner Harold Christensen.

Seated at far left: Supervisor Harry Pritchard, Mayor Sam Sacco, Mrs. Harold Christensen, Midge Davenport.

HU

MB

OLD

T B

AY H

AR

BO

R D

ISTR

ICT


from time to time modify the master plan by a majority vote of the board.The district shall improve the Humboldt Bay Harbor for navigation and commerce through maintenance and construction of channels, shipways, berths, anchorage places, turning basins, breakwaters, bulkheads, wharves, processing plants, warehouses, roads, spur tracks or beltline railways, and any other work that is deemed necessary that would not otherwise be accomplished by other public or private agencies.The district shall plan, designate, and protect wildlife habitats, establish open space areas and areas provided for recreational use with open access for the public, protect, conserve, supervise, and improve the wildlife and fish resources of, and control and enhance the aesthetic appearance of, the area.The district shall regulate the use of Humboldt Bay by control of pollution, dredging, and filling within the area subject to its jurisdiction under Section 5.5.

Section 32 of the Act provides the District powers and services as fol-lows:

The district may perform the functions of warehousemen, stevedores, lighterers, reconditioners, shippers, and reshippers of properties of all kinds.The board may manage the business of the district and promote the maritime and commercial interests by proper advertisement of its advantages and, by the solicitation of business within or without the district, within other states, or in foreign countries, through employees or agencies.Within the boundaries of the district, the district may acquire,

purchase, take over, construct, maintain, operate, develop, and regulate bunkering facilities, belt or other railroads, floating plants, lighterage, towage facilities, and any and all other facilities, aids, equipment, or property necessary for, or incident to, the development and operation of a harbor or for the accommodation and promotion of commerce, navigation, or fisheries in the district.

Prior to the 1973 approval of the Act by the voters of Humboldt County, the California State Lands Commission as lessor held tideland leases with several riparian lessee owners such as North Coast Export Company dock, Louisiana Pacific Pulp Mill dock and Simpson Pulp Mill dock, all on Samoa Peninsula, and Humboldt Bay Forest Products at Fields Landing. In 1974 the State Lands Commission and its staff ini-tially refused to deliver lessor lease monies to the District and refused to acknowledge that Humboldt Bay Harbor District now held title to the ungranted and submerged tidelands

in Humboldt Bay. It appeared that the state bureaucrats objected to giv-ing up control to a local governmen-tal agency.

In early 1975 Commissioners Ridenhour and Startare with CEO Jack Alderson and legal counsel Jer-emiah Scott visited the State Lands Commission staff and met with State Senator Peter Behr representing Humboldt County. Senator Behr sub-mitted a Senate bill which became ef-fective immediately upon enactment requiring the State Lands Commis-sion, under the Act, to transfer to the Humboldt Bay District all state tideland leases, and all lease monies and to recognize the Humboldt Bay Harbor and Recreational District as the entity responsible for Humboldt Bay.

DISTRICT TIDELAND BOUNDARIES

The Act required the District to “Survey and Monument the Bay.” These words required the District to establish historical and present boundary lines of tide and sub-

June 1979 groundbreaking, Woodley Island Marina. From left: Ken Davlin, RCE; the author, Jeremiah Scott, Jr.; Joyce Wilkinson Startare (widow of Bill Startare); Richard Dornhelm, RCE and marina designer.

HU

MB

OLD

T B

AY H

AR

BO

R D

ISTR

ICT


merged lands and to determine private trespass upon public lands. Toward this end, the Board of Com-missioners retained civil engineer John Winzler of the Eureka firm of Winzler and Kelly.

Winzler went to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Archives and the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and obtained historical maps of Humboldt Bay made by U. S. naval officers in the 1850s to 1870s to de-termine the location of the histori-cal last natural condition of the bay prior to the acts of man.

These maps were documentary evidence used in lawsuits that, as le-gal counsel, I filed in the Humboldt County Superior Court in the 1970s against trespass occupation by par-ties on public lands at Samoa and Fields Landing. All Humboldt Bay Harbor District lawsuits involving trespass on public lands at Samoa and Fields Landing were concluded successfully by agreement or court adjudication with establishment of the District boundary lines and leas-es of public lands by upland owners.

WOODLEY ISLAND MARINA

In the 1970s a lack of moorage space for commercial and recreation vessels on Humboldt Bay was noted. Commissioners Bill Startare and Harold Christensen raised the issue to the board of commissioners. The board sought public input on the

need and potential location for ves-sel moorage in Humboldt Bay. After numerous public meetings, in 1975 the board of commissioners voted to proceed with studies, permits, and plans for a public boat marina at Woodley Island.

The Harbor District retained en-gineer John Winzler to assist the District in the permit application

Woodley Island Marina

June 1979 groundbreaking. From left: Commissioner Richard Ridenhour, Com-missioner Bob Davenport, Commissioner Mal Coombs, Midge Davenport, Commissioner Harold Christensen, Mrs. Harold Christensen, Melba Coombs.

HU

MB

OLD

T B

AY H

AR

BO

R D

ISTR

ICT

HU

MB

OLD

T B

AY H

AR

BO

R D

ISTR

ICT


process, to prepare plans and speci-fications, and to supervise construc-tion.

The District was required to obtain twenty-seven permits from state, lo-cal and federal agencies. The permit process from application to final ap-proval took four and one-half years.

In 1976 the district application for Woodley Island Marina obtained a 10-0 favorable vote from the local Coastal Commission, which was ap-pealed by environmental interests to the California Coastal Commission. The state Coastal Commission ini-tially denied the permit application. After several environmental com-promises made by the District, in-cluding purchasing thirty-plus acres on Eureka Slough with restoration to tidal action and setting aside por-tions of Woodley Island for wildlife habitat, the final Coastal Commis-sion permit was obtained.

Construction of the Woodley Is-land Marina started in 1979 and was completed in 1981. A total of 237 commercial and recreational vessel moorage spaces were constructed with District offices, parking, road

access, public restrooms and show-ers, restaurant, and ship chandlery, with road access to State Hwy 255 (Samoa Bridge) completed.

The final cost of the marina ex-ceeded eight million dollars, with a five-million-dollar grant from the federal Economic Development Ad-ministration and a three million dol-lar low interest thirty-year loan from

State Boating and Waterways. Con-gressman Don Clausen was most helpful in raising public funds and securing favorable Congressional approval.

In 1981 upon completion of the Woodley Island Marina project, the Harbor District office and pub-lic meeting rooms were moved to Woodley Island.

Aerial view of Woodley Island Marina, 1990.

CO

UR

TES

Y O

F U

SA

CO

E

At the podium is Harold Christensen. In back from left: unknown; Gerald Han-sen, CPA; Jeremiah Scott, Jr.; Joyce Startare; unknown woman; Richard Riden-hour; Supervisor Harry Pritchard; Mayor Sam Sacco; Don Clausen.

HU

MB

OLD

T B

AY H

AR

BO

R D

ISTR

ICT


DEEPENING THE BAY CHANNELS

For several years prior to the for-mation of the Humboldt Bay Harbor and Recreational District, the bay en-trance channel was a depth of minus thirty-five feet mean lower low water (MLLW) and the main bay channel depth was minus twenty-seven feet MLLW. No deepening of the bay en-trance or main bay channel had been done since the 1940s.

The U. S. Army Corps of Engi-neers had provided annual mainte-nance dredging. Deepening projects were the responsibility of the local agency sponsor. Since 1954 a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deepening plan had been pending without a lo-cal sponsor. In 1975 the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers was considering dropping the deepening project.

Commissioners Ridenhour, Dav-enport, Startare, Gast, and Christens-en directed District efforts to obtain approval of the deepening project as local sponsor. The Bay District as lo-cal sponsor was required to obtain and pay for dredge disposal sites and the permit process. The District as local sponsor was able to construct a dredge disposal site at the City of Eureka airport at Samoa and a beach disposal site at the ocean beach at Samoa.

Deepening construction was done in 1978 with the harbor entrance channel lowered to minus forty-two feet MLLW and the main bay chan-nel lowered to minus thirty-five feet MLLW.

The size and depth of oceangoing vessels using Humboldt Bay for log, pulp and lumber export continued to grow. By the mid-1980s the Dis-trict filed application with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen the harbor entrance to minus forty-eight feet MLLW and the Eureka main channel to minus thirty-eight MLLW.

The Harbor District commission-ers retained civil engineer David Schneider of Pacific Affiliates to pro-

vide District planning and oversight of the project.

The second harbor-deepening project took eleven years of study and planning, numerous permit pro-cesses, and environmental analysis by public agencies.

The Corps of Engineers initially es-timated the local Humboldt Bay and Harbor District expense portion of the project to be $750,000. The Har-bor District deposited that amount with the Corps of Engineers. The final local cost was 1.4 million dol-lars paid by the Harbor District. The actual construction time by the suc-cessful contractor took a few months in 1997.

SHELTER COVEThe Shelter Cove area on the

southern Humboldt County coast became important for commercial and recreational boaters. Second District Harbor Commissioners Bill Startare (1974-1978), Mal Coombs (1979-1981), and Roy Curless (1991-2011) devoted their efforts to im-provements at Shelter Cove. Har-bor District improvements over the above years included construction of a breakwater, acquisition of pub-lic road access to the beach, a boat launching pad, public restrooms, public parking, a fish cleaning sta-tion, and construction of rock slope protection for the road. The cost of these improvements was in excess of

Fields Landing Boat Building and Repair Facility.

HU

MB

OLD

T B

AY H

AR

BO

R D

ISTR

ICT


2.5 million dollars. The majority of funding was by grant money from the state Department of Boating and Waterways. The District engineer for many of the projects was Ken Davlin of Oscar Larsen and Associates.

KING SALMONIn 1981 winter wave action from

the bay main entrance channel was pounding the roads and improve-ments at King Salmon with erosion, while siltation was occurring on the Eureka channel serving recreation and fishing vessels and on the Fields Landing channel serving the PG&E power plant. The District, with assis-tance from State Senator Barry Keene and Congressman Don Clausen, sought construction funds from the Environmental License Plate Fund, the state Department of Boating and Waterways and the federal Depart-ment of Transportation. The federal Army Corps of Engineers and the Harbor District constructed a new beach, dikes, and groynes to slow the wave action. The project was com-pleted in 1983 at cost of 8.5 million dollars. Favorable public recreational beach access at King Salmon contin-ues to exist. The community of King Salmon was saved from potential de-struction by the efforts of the Harbor District.

PUBLIC BOAT BUILDING & REPAIR FACILITY

In the 1980s, recreation and com-mercial fishing interests requested

the Bay Harbor District board of commissioners to provide a public boat building and repair facility for self-repair and maintenance. The Board of Commissioners considered suitable sites on the bay for a public boat building and repair facility. The Kramer dock, formerly the Pacific Lumber Company export dock, at Fields Landing was determined to be feasible. The District acquired this land in 1978.

The Harbor District retained civil engineer Ken Davlin of Oscar Lar-sen and Associates to prepare ap-plications and plans, and to provide specifications and project inspec-tion. Project construction took place in 1981-1983 at a cost of 2.5 million dollars with a federal Economic De-velopment Administration grant, with Congressman Don Clausen’s as-sistance. Construction included con-crete and steel loading piers whereby an 80-ton travel lift with canvas straps was able to lift and place ves-sels from the water onto dry land for repairs. Construction included a machine shop, a workshop, and a large compacted asphalt surface.

BALLAST WATER EX-CHANGE PROGRAM

Harbor District CEO Jack Alder-son retired in 1996, after twenty-one years of service to the District.

David Hull became Humboldt Bay and Harbor Recreational District

The author, Jeremiah R. Scott, Jr., recalls each of the eighteen Harbor Commissioners who served during his tenure as Humboldt Bay Harbor and Recreation District legal counsel (1974 to 2004):

1. Robert E. Davenport (1973-1995) served the longest tenure of any Harbor Commissioner. On sev-eral occasions he served as Harbor District representative at the Golden State annual luncheon in Washing-

CEO in 1997. Hull held a bachelor of arts degree in marine biology from California State University, Long Beach, and a master of science de-gree from Humboldt State Univer-sity in fisheries.

In 1997 Commissioner Ron Fritz-sche and CEO Hull directed success-ful District efforts to make Humboldt Bay the first port on the west coast a ballast water exchange program in which all vessels entering Humboldt Bay are required to expunge bilge and ballast waste water in open seas to avoid foreign contamination en-tering bay water. The federal govern-ment followed the lead of Humboldt Bay to require all United States har-bors to follow the same procedure.

Hull served as CEO until Septem-ber 2011. In May 2012 Jack Crider became the Harbor District Chief Executive Officer. Crider holds a bachelor’s degree in fisheries science from Oregon State University and was the former director of the Port of Astoria, and the port director of Tillamook Bay, Oregon.

I retired from my duties as Har-bor District legal counsel in 2004, completing thirty years of service. I appreciate the work and effort of all eighteen Harbor commissioners serving during my thirty-year tenure in the improvement of Humboldt Bay.

ton, D.C. This event was sponsored by California harbor districts to as-sist in obtaining federal monies for California harbor development, and for such Humboldt Bay projects as the Woodley Island Marina, the boat-building and repair facility at Fields Landing, the groyne and levee project to protect King Salmon from wave action, harbor maintenance dredging and harbor deepening proj-ects, and the Harbor District proj-

Humboldt Bay Harbor District Commissioners, 1973–2004ects at Shelter Cove to provide pub-lic beach road access and restrooms, as well as rock slope protection, boat ramp and breakwater. Many District projects were enhanced by federal and state funds.

2. Bill Startare (1973-1978) was a strong advocate for building the Woodley Island Marina. He was the second district president. Along with Commissioner Ridenhour, he head-ed efforts for approval of twenty-

HH

Copyright of Humboldt Historian is the property of Humboldt County Historical Society and its content may

not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written

permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

THE HUMBOLDT BAY HARBOR DISTRICT:

Documents

Transcript of THE HUMBOLDT BAY HARBOR DISTRICT: