Happy Trails

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Jennifer Johnson, owner of Adventure's Edge. We looked at trail development over the years in Humboldt county and how trail creation supports local business and how local businesses such as Adventure's Edge support our trails.

This morning Jessica Hall and I spoke with Dr. Shere Edgar recent convert to bike commuting. For about 2 years she has be commuting about 7 miles each way to work, partly on the Hammond Trail. In that time her energy has increased, stress has lowered and has lost about 80 pounds. WIth trail development increasing here in Humboldt County, bike commuting will become more and more common.

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Scott Harriott who spent last summer on the Bigfoot Trail shooting about 30 hours of film which turned into a 75 minute documentary called "Asquatchalypse Now." Scott will be in town for 2 showings of the film. Monday February 13th at the Arcata Playhouse and on Friday February 17th at the Trinity Alps Performing Arts Center in Weaverville.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Jeanie Ward-Waller, CalBike's Policy Director. We looked at CalBike's mission and current programs, what is happening at the state level for bike & ped funding among other topics.

This morning Emily and I spoke with Denise Newman, Project Coordinator for RCAA and Mike Zeppigno, Explore North Coast about a new comprehensive Water Trails Map that just came out. It is very accurate with lots of information for both beginners and experts paddlers.

Emily Sinkhorn and my self talk with Marie Jones Community Development Director with City of Fort Bragg about the Fort Bragg Coastal Trail Phase 2 + bike/ped progress throughout Mendocino County.

This morning my co host Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Dave Fuller, the Planning and Environmental Coordinator for the BLM Arcata Field Office. The Bureau of Land Management will be holding public scoping meetings to seek comments to help shape the Northwest California Resource Management Plan (NCIMP) and Environmental Impact Statement for public land management over the next 15 to 20 years.

There will be a local public scoping meeting tomorrow night in Eureka on Wednesday, January 11th at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center at 911 Waterfront Drive from 5 to 7 p.m

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I talked about accomplishments in trails for the year, and what to expect in 2017. We looked at the Red Cap Road Bikeway in Orleans, the Freshwater Farms Nature Trail, Bike Month, the First Annual Humboldt County Trails Summit, Lacks Creek, Ped and bike safety improvements in Fortuna and McKinleyville, construction on the northern end of the Bay Trail, and active studies for the southern end. We also talked about the Eureka Waterfront Trail and last weekend's grand opening of the next phase of the trail making for a contiguous 2.5 miles of trails thus far. We also looked at the possible completion of the trail in 2017.

This morning Carol Vandermere and I spoke with Miles Slatery the city of Eureka about phase one of the Eureka Waterfront Trail. The Grand Opening will take place this Saturday connecting with this portion of the trail to the Hikshari' trail for 2 1/2 mile segment. When asked when the entire Eureka waterfront Trail is expected to be completed, Slatery responded "October 2017". I also asked Miles about the rumors of the Hikshari trail extending south. He said they are currently exploring the option of extending it all the way to Scotia. Since at this point that is just conceptual, there is no timeline for it, but I for one am very excited about that. Slattery said it right now they're concentrating on the southern part of the Bay Trail. When complete it will connect with the completed Eureka waterfront Trail for a contiguous ride from the southernmost part of Eureka all the way to Arcata.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Rob Holmlund, Director of Development Services for the City of Eureka. He spoke of improvements to Opera Ally, creating an arts corridor, and improvements for pedestrians in the Henderson Center shopping district. There is a workshop this Wednesday evening, 5:30pm at the Wharfinger Building. This is open to the public and a chance to see some of these ideas and comment on them. We also touched on the proposed expansion of the Hikshari trail south. More on that next week when Carol Vander Meer and I speak with Miles Slatterly about the Grand Opening Celebration of the Phase A of the Waterfront trail.