Happy Trails

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Sean Swanson with the River Life Foundation about a new trail that a big labor of love got made in the Fortuna Area called the Dennis Wendt Memorial Trail.

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Ryan Henson of CalWild all the work they do in wilderness preservation. Ryan was part one of the people instrumental in helping to craft a Land Conservation Bill that passed both the House and Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. In a time of fractured government, that in and of itself is a major victory.

Today we talked with a group of local youth representatives who traveled to New York to attend the Youth Bike Summit. Today they talked about their experience and their thoughts on biking and future of trails here in Humboldt County.

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Caryl Hart who is on the board of the NCRA (North Coast Railroad Authority). Caryl is a recent appointee to the board who is tasked with aiding in the transition to from rail roads to this new 300 mile trail that has been mandated between Humboldt Bay and San Fransisco Bay.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Ingrid Kosek of Friends of the Annie & Mary Rail Trail. We spoke about their big fundraiser happening this weekend in Blue Lake called the Mad Scramble. This is a Cyclecross event taking place in the Powers Creek District off Taylor and Mondo Ways staging at Jewell Distillery on Saturday. The first race is at 11am. There will be 2 timed races: 30 minutes and 60 minute, and 2 kids races will take place between the races.

Registration opens this Friday at 4pm at Mad River Brewing Company in Blue Lake. You can also register at the event starting at 9am. We also talked about the fact that funding for the final 4 miles of the Humboldt Bay Trail have been approved. Construction is expected to begin in 2021.

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Chris Valle-Riestra, a dedicated steward and volunteer for the Six Rivers National Forest were he manages man trails.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Julie Neander, City of Arcata Deputy Director of Environmental Services as we talked about the Annie & Mary Trail Connectivity Project. To that end the City of Arcata invites community input on the Annie & Mary Trail to improve walking and biking connections through northeast Arcata. Attend a workshop Monday, February 4th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the D Street Community Center.

This morning Carole Vander Meer and I spoke with Neil Davis, director of Walk & Bike Mendocino. Like Humboldt County, they too were awarded funds from Active Transportation funds for this year to work projects. Willits and Ukiah both have trails through their towns and look to be part of the Great Redwood Trail, as we do here in Humboldt.

The first Happy Trails Show of 2019 was filled with Very Exciting News! Over the holiday break, the state announced the staff recommendations for projects to be funded by Active Transportation Funds. The souther portion of the Humboldt Bay Trail, commonly known as "The Final Four," was 5th on the list, with over 13 million dollars to complete the Humboldt Bay Trail. This is the section between Bracut and Eureka. The staff recommendations are expected to be ratified by the end of this month. If all goes acording to plan, construction could begin by early 2021.

This morning, Carole Vander Meer and I talk with Julie Clark , Ranger at the Headwaters Reserve about the trail through the Headwaters that interprets the history of the Town of Falk. She will be at Booklegger to sign copies of her new book, Falk: Company Lumber Town of the American West. Once a thriving community of 400 people, Falk was eventually abandoned, and became a ghost town. Traces of the town remain at Headwaters.

The 7,472-acre Headwaters Forest Reserve (Reserve) was established in 1999 after a decade-long grassroots effort to protect the world’s last unprotected, intact, old-growth redwood forest ecosystem.

There are two public trails in the Reserve. The Elk River Trail winds along the South Fork Elk River for 3 miles, followed by a 2-mile ascent to a short loop through an old-growth redwood forest. Interpretive signs along the first mile of trail describe the history of Falk, the historic company mill town once located along this section of trail.