Happy Trails

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Humboldt County Supervisor, Mike Wilson. He reports that all your calls to the Governor's office have made a difference with regard to SB 1029, the bill to support the Great Redwood Governor Brown is now meeting with Senator Mike McGuire about how to make this work. Now that we have made it to this stage, your continued calls of support are more important than ever. Please take a moment and call the Governor's office in Sacramento to show your support of FUNDING SB 1029. The number is (916) 445-2841.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Netra Khatri, assistant city engineer for Arcata and Morgan King, HSU Climate Action Analyst talking about Zagster bike share and other city and HSU projects.

Today Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke in depth about The Great Redwood Trail and support of the Senate Bill that would create the Great Redwood Trail Agency. This would convert the NCRA into this new agency to maintain and steward the long, contiguous public right of way. The idea would be to put in a trail system between here and Willits. The bill, SB 1029 has gotten wide bipartisan support in the California Senate and Assembly and broad support in the counties that this trail would transect. Please call the Governor's office to support funding of SB 1029, The Great Redwood Trail. Call (916) 445-2841. Your phone calls of support of funding make a BIG difference! We also talked about the upcoming ballot proposition to repeal the gas tax that the state put in place to help fund the state's crumbling infrastructure and also support other transportation projects. If this passes, it will greatly impact all aspects of transportation in California.

This morning Carol Vandermeer and I spoke with Susan Halprin of Friends of Headwaters Forest. You now have a great opportunity to get a guided hike on a rarely seen and pristine part of the Headwaters Forest, the Salmon Pass Trail. It is a 3 mile loop though some of the most beautiful old growth in the world. To take advantage of this opportunity, meet at Newburg Park in Fortuna, 10am on the second Saturday of each month, now though the summer. ACTION ITEM: Also, please support The Great Redwood Trail proposed by Senator Mike McGuire. This bill SB 1029 has gotten broad, bipartisan support throughout California Government and by all the counties this proposed 300 mile class one trail would pass though. However, we are now at the funding stage and the Governor needs urging to support funding this bill! Please contact Governor Brown to let him know you support FUNDING for SB 1029, the Great Redwood Trail. Call (916) 445-2841. You will talk to a staffer and they will take down your vote for support of funding

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Mike Foget, Engineer for the City of Blue Lake about the funding and plans for phase one of the trail within the city of Blue Lake. We also spoke with Jen Buck, Caltrans Project Manager of Annie and Mary Trail, Phase 2. This will go from Blue Lake to Glendale. Caltrans is taking the lead on this portion. Emily touched on the Arcata section of the Annie and Mary. This trail has been in the works for the past 20 years, but a lot of progress is happing now in an era of many trail projects in Humboldt County.

This morning I spoke with Michael Kauffmann about the Bigfoot Trail and some great opportunities to pitch in and help with trail maintenance. More into at bigfoottrail.org

This Morning, Carole Vander Meer and I spoke with Philip Sales, Executive Director of the Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition. The Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition has engaged the local community, as well as state, federal and local leaders to move a trail from an idea in 2008 to a reality with over half of the 47-mile route either completed or funded. FYI, Philip was the project manager for the Humboldt Bay Trail feasibility study back before it started.

This morning Roger James and I spoke with Bob Ornelas and Eli Pence who are both taking part in the upcoming Aids?LifeCycle coming up June 3rd though the 9th. About 3,000 riders will ride between San Francisco and Los Angeles to raise money for Aids Research and more. This 545 mile ride has be going on for many years, in fact, Bob has been doing this for 13 years.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Mark Mueller about all the events of Bike Month. On Facebook check Bike Month Humboldt. There are also many "Bike-Friendly Businesses" that are offering free items and discounts to individuals who bike to their shop.

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Gabe Howe, the executive director of the Siskiyou Mountain Club. Formed in 2010 they have been very busy working on trail restoration among other things in a widespread area.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with California Senator Mike McGuire about his draft legislation to dismantle the North Coast Railroad Authority, rail bank the right of way between here and Willits and establish the Great Redwood Trail Agency to establish a class one trail between Eureka to San Fransisco. The legislation protects the freight that currently exists on the most souther end of the line south of Willits. This bill has passed its first hurdle with a unanimous, bipartisan 12-0 vote in the Senate Transportation and Housing committee. There are still several committees it needs to go though, then go to the floor of the Senate, then go to the Legislature, then get signed by the Governor. It has a way to go yet, but it is well on it's way.

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Lee Mills, board member and past president of the Bear Creek Greenway Foundation. This 20 mile class one trail goes though many different jurisdictions much like the Humboldt Bay Trail. We talked with Lee to see what we could learn from their success.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Scott Ellsmore, traffic engineer of the City of Eureka. We look at 3 different plans to modify H and I streets in Eureka to be more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. All plans expore taking H and I down to 2 lanes from 3. Plans also look at putting in a physical barrier between traffic and the bike lane. Due to the width of these streets, none of these plans would impact parking. Today, during the show, Emily was live from I and Del Norte streets where a "Pop-Up" demonstration of what a bump out, taking I down to 2 lanes would look like.

This morning Michael Kauffamnn and I spoke with Mike McFadin, Wilderness Trails and Recreation Manager on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Mike gave us deep history on the area and gave us the status of trails in the area and trail project now underway.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I went over the vast amount of progress trails have seen here in Humboldt County over the past few years. We looked at the Eureka Waterfront Trail, the Bay Trail and explored the new Draft Legislation that Senator Mark McGuire has written which would devolve the NCRA and in it's place create the Great Redwood Trail Agency. This would turn the current unused public right of way into 300 miles of trails. We have contacted the Senator's office and are trying to get him on the show to more fully explain the vision.

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Ben Moorehead, Executive Director of the Trinidad Coastal Land Trust about all the trails that hey have helped implement, the land they maintain in the public's interest, and their big plans to extend a tail across Little River and connect with the Hammond Trail.

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Ken DeCamp who literally wrote the book about Wildflowers in the Trinity Alps. He will be in Arcata next Wednesday at the Masonic Lodge to speak. Ken has been hiking this area since the 50s and has chronicled and photographed many of the wildflowers many people have not seen before in his new book.

This morning I spoke with Michael Kauffmann about places to hike this spring and even now to check out some of the spectacular wildflowers that Humboldt County has to offer.

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Hank Seemann about the Humboldt Bay Trail. With the recent completion of the Eureka Waterfront Trail, momentum is building to get the Bay Trail complete. The "Final Four," referring to the final 4 miles of trail to be completed will be the most expensive part of the trail as it will require modification of the old railroad bridge over the Eureka Slough and routing around the mill, utilizing the levy. This section also is going through several privately held pieces of land. The funding and land issues will need to be figured out. But for now, there is a public planing meeting set for Tuesday, February 27th at 5:30pm at the Wharfinger Building in Eureka. You can see what the trail will look like and give input for the next phase.

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Miles Slattery, Parks and Recreation Director for the city of Eureka. Today at noon will be the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Eureka Waterfront Trail. The Grand Opening Celebration will be on Saturday at the Wharfinger Building. The trail now goes from the Herrick Park and Ride to Tidd Street near Target. Eventually it will connect with the Bay Trail and continue north to Arcata.