Michael Kraft
You could forgive the folks of the Humboldt Trails Council if they were to take it easy for a bit and just enjoy the victory lap that they and many others are taking with the completion earlier this year of the Humboldt Bay Trail segment between Eureka and Arcata. But our forgiveness is unnecessary. They are still up to plenty of good work.
The Humboldt Trails Council serves as a unified voice to support development, maintenance, connection to, and use of trails for recreation and transportation throughout Humboldt County, California. That’s the mission.
They accomplish this primarily via two tracks. They maintain 11 trails, in coordination with jurisdictions and other NGOs, with more to come. The next up is a big one, the McKinleyville Community Forest, from North Bank Road to Murray Road. They also advocate for more and better trails. They were, for example, highly active in supporting Great Redwood Trail legislation and they write letters of support for others, such as next phase of Bay to Zoo trail in Eureka.
About 200 volunteers perform trail maintenance, which represents the biggest effort. It’s also an important piece in developing trails. When the county or a city wants to build a new trail, they need a plan for how it will be maintained. “We’re part of the solution for that,” says Board of Directors member Michael Proulx.
Board members are volunteers. Volunteers also handle a few other items, such as tabling at last spring’s Earth Day at the Pro Sports Center. Building new trails involves a mix of professionals and volunteers. Michael says he is “stunned sometimes by the amount of work our volunteers do.” To state the obvious, with new trails, the Trails Council will need additional volunteers. You can sign up here: https://humtrails.org/volunteer/.
Michael wanted to address one bit of Myth v. Reality. There is often a concern that a new trail will attract unwanted activity. Michael wanted to address one bit of Myth v. Reality. Data from the national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy demonstrate that, after a trail is built, property values increase, while homeless encampments stay flat or decline due to the greater presence of the public.
Another aspect of the Humboldt Trails Council is the Trails Summit, which provides updates on Great Redwood Trail legislation and new local trail development, and which showcases the Volunteer Trail Steward program. These are also available on the website.
The Trails Council collaborates on these efforts. A few examples would include the partnership with the Coalition For Responsible Transportation Priorities, where the organizations team up on trail safety. “We advocate for projects, with safety as a core feature,” Michael says. Others include jurisdictions or organizations who own/manage trails, such as Friends of the Dunes and the North Coast Land Trust.
About half of the Council’s funding comes via maintenance agreements with those jurisdictions and organizations. There is also a critical ongoing grant from the Humboldt Bay Trail Fund. Other grants, from Rotary clubs, the Hansen Family Trust, and others, contribute and donations make up the rest. (You can donate here: https://humtrails.org/donate/).
During Covid, signs with QR codes posted on multiple trails. People would scan the code and enter comments. Here are two of Michael’s favorites:
“Since I don’t bike commute to the office anymore, I use trails for exercise. I have learned to observe birds more and trails are a great place to see them.”
“It’s good for the family to breathe air and not stare at a screen. My kids learn so much and enjoy the discoveries only found outside by doing and exploring.”
Michael says that a big push is to encourage all of us to use the trails. The Bay Trail is drawing new people to trail use. Hopefully, that will demonstrate to more locals that trails provide a safe and effective community resource, whether one is hiking, biking to work, or just trying to escape our screens.
Good Work is a series written by Michael Kraft, who volunteers on behalf of the Northern California Association of Nonprofits (NorCAN). NorCAN supports connections between people and organizations that work every day to keep our communities healthy and strong by offering professional development, board support, networking connections and more. Learn more at https://norcal-nonprofits.org/. To nominate a deserving nonprofit organization to be profiled, email michael@kraftconsultants.com.
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