Board of Directors

Ken Burton grew up next to the Dipsea Trail in Marin County and after stints in Santa Cruz County, Kenya, Indonesia, Indiana, Alaska, and Point Reyes landed in Humboldt in 2005. Frustrated by the lack of a comprehensive hiking guide to the county, he set out to write one; this effort resulted in Hiking Humboldt, vol. 1. He became the organizer of Humboldt Hikers (now Six Rivers Hikers) in 2015 and is also active with the Fortuna Senior Hiking Group. At this point, he has walked nearly every public trail in the county, and whichever one he was on last is his favorite. Mostly retired from a career as a wildlife biologist and guide, Ken joined the HTC board of directors in 2022 and is excited to be able to contribute to local trail development and maintenance.

Peter Carlson has enjoyed hiking for much of his life, and has been a regular volunteer with the VTS program in Arcata since it began. He has lived in the Humboldt area for 3 decades, working on long term field research of the northern spotted owl. His favorite areas to hike include the Trinity Alps, Marble Mountains, and Prairie Creek Redwoods, but he enjoys exploring many of diverse areas we are fortunate to have locally for recreation. In recent years, he has regularly used the trails in the Arcata Community Forest and the Humboldt Bay Trail North to enjoy time outside and keep healthy. As his career doing field research winds down, Peter has decided to expand his volunteer time in the community and joined the Humboldt Trails Council as a board member.

Rachael Garcia has been serving as our Volunteer Trail Stewards Coordinator since 2021 and enjoys working closely with volunteers from all walks of life. Her love for trails peaked while growing up in rural San Diego County and trekking around the Anza-Borrego desert. She volunteered on trails in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, and as a children’s docent for the Chula Vista Nature Center before coming to Humboldt in 2012 to earn her bachelor’s in Environmental Education & Interpretation. She’s since worked for the City of Arcata at the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center, where she also enjoyed teaching children’s summer camp programs. Her greatest hike’s been summiting Yosemite’s Half Dome; but her favorite local spots are Sue-meg State Park, Tish Tang, and the Hidden Springs Beach Trail.

Korina Johnson has knocked around California most of her life, but when she moved to Arcata she fell in love. After hiking the Arcata Community Forest for a few years, she decided to give back and joined the Volunteer Trail Stewards. She was so enthusiastic about the VTS that she was asked to join the board. Today Korina is on the Advocacy Committee and still an enthusiastic VTS volunteer. She also loves riding her bike, and can hardly wait for the Humboldt Bay Trail to be completed.

Stevie Luther got started with trail maintenance early when a McKinleyville High School service project called for moving wheelbarrow loads of crushed gravel to trails in the Arcata Community Forest. He later helped remove brush on the Hammond Trail with an upstart group of do-gooders donning dashing vests who called themselves “Trail Stewards.” These days, he enjoys helping improve the natural environment along the Waterfront Trail. He joined the Board in 2019 and is excited to be part of the next generation working to fulfill the vision of a seamlessly connected regional trails network. Stevie works as a Planner for the Humboldt County Association of Governments, and is happy to be a bike commuter.

Kemset Moore’s interest in trails originated with her involvement with the Fortuna Senior Hiking Group’s adventures on hikes throughout Humboldt County and beyond. Kemset is a retired civil engineer and lives with her husband Ken and Labrador retriever Jax south of Eureka.
Favorite hiking trail: Friendship Ridge in Redwood National Forest from the old Klamath bears to the hike in camp sites and back along the Klamath river. This one is in Del Norte County.
Favorite trail to take out of town guests (when we could have them): Headwaters from the Elk River trail head.
Favorite unexpected adventure trail: At very low tide only, Hookton Slough to Old Southport Landing site along the sandy shore of Humboldt Bay, number 47 in Rees Hughes’ book Hiking Humboldt Volume 2.
Favorite trail for social distance hiking: Thornrton Multi use trail in Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Michael Proulx worked as a Rehabilitation Counselor for 22 years at the California Department of Rehabilitation, retiring in 2011. He continues to teach part-time in the School of Business at HSU.

Michael’s volunteer activities include Arcata Economic Development Corporation, Making Headway (disability organization), American Field Service (exchange program for foreign high school students) and Humboldt Trails Council. He joined the Humboldt Trails Council Board of Directors in 2015, regularly participates in the VTS trail workdays in the Arcata Community Forest and currently takes care of one section of Bay Trail North through the VTS program.

While my favorite trail on the planet is the hike to the Tall Trees Grove in Redwood National Park, my most frequent hiking trails are those in Arcata Community Forest. In addition to hiking, I love backpacking and like to visit the Marble Mountain and Trinity Alps Wilderness areas. The North Coast has so much to offer in outdoor recreation and adventure!

Rick Saria has never met a trail he didn’t hike. He grew up as an Army Brat walking trails in Germany, Georgia, Washington State, Hawaii and both Northern and Southern California. Locally, Rick likes to hike the Arcata Community Forest and the Hammond Trail often with his dog, Sadie. Beginning in 2019, he began helping VTS by producing videos for several annual Trail Summit meetings and other VTS events. He is particularly interested in promoting community awareness of the VTS Program and in helping with volunteer outreach activities. He is looking forward to the Volunteer Stewards Program becoming part of a much larger hiking community within The Great Redwood Trail.

Bruce Silvey is a mostly retired Marriage and Family Therapist who has lived on a small working sheep ranch an hour east of Eureka for forty years. For the last twenty years he and his wife Leslie have traveled around the US riding rails-to-trails. Captivated by the history, tunnels, trestles, and virtually flat trails that take you from town to town, Bruce joined the HTC Board in 2018 to help convert our unused railroad corridor to a trail everyone could enjoy. His current passion is the development of the Great Redwood Trail.
His favorite local trails are the Eureka Waterfront Trail and the Bay Trail North, both of which will become part of the Great Redwood Trail if all goes well.

Karen Underwood (email) has spent her life on trails with family, friends and horses. She likes hiking as much as riding, and retired from teaching at Fortuna Middle School and immediately joined the Fortuna Sr. Hiking group. This extraordinary group shared the trails and roads of Humboldt County. Karen and her husband Steve live in Hydesville. Steve is a retired park ranger whose career took them to Olympic Nat Park, Crater Lake NP, Lava Beds NM, Yosemite NP, and finally to Redwoods NP and Humboldt Redwoods State Park. That is a lot of places to compare with Humboldt County, and she is happy to report that the comparison holds up. Feels like you can’t have enough trails so she is happy to be involved with the advocacy subcommittee.
Favorite Hiking Trail involves a loop of many trails at Prairie Creek SP: California Coastal Trail north to West Ridge Trail, south to Friendship Ridge Trail, back to coast on Fern Canyon Trail.
Favorite Horseback Riding Trail: Bull Creek south side trail at Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Would you like to serve on the HTC Board of Directors? Please fill out this Application Form.