Board Member Spotlight: Steve Brown
By Ashton Brown, Editor, Trail Line News
If you’ve spent any time on the Foothills Trail or been part of the local cycling community, chances are you’ve crossed paths with Steve Brown, or at least benefited from his decades of passion and dedication to the outdoors. A board member of the Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition since 2011, Steve has long been a driving force behind the organization’s vision, dedicating countless volunteer hours to protect, maintain, and expand Pierce County’s trail system.
Steve grew up in Corvallis, Oregon, and was brought to Federal Way for a job at Weyerhaeuser, in the 1980s. Soon after his move, the journey into local trail advocacy began. He joined the Tacoma Wheelmen (now the Tacoma Washington Bicycle Club) at age 27, and the group’s weekly meetings connected him with the original pioneers of the Foothills Trail like Ernie Bay and he quickly found his place among a group of passionate outdoor enthusiasts.
A lifelong cyclist, backpacker, and cross-country skier, Steve describes his younger self as a “weekend warrior,” hitting the outdoors for hours a day every weekend, burning off all the calories accumulated during the work week.
Steve has always enjoyed outdoor activities for the adventure, not the competition, challenging himself with endeavors like cycling the Olympic Peninsula, embarking on a nine-day solo bike tour from Tacoma to Portland and back, and hiking local mountains including Rainier, Hood, Adams, and St. Helens.
“I’m a member of the YMCA,” he joked, “but I never go, I just feel more productive outside – whether it’s going on the trail, or just doing some gardening, being outside in the fresh air is always better than being inside at the gym.”
While a hip issue now keeps him away from the long-distance strenuous adventures of days past, Steve hasn’t slowed down. He walks the Foothills Trail regularly and is an active member of the Washington State Hi-Lakers, a volunteer group that surveys alpine lakes and works with Washington Fish & Wildlife to stock them.
After entering retirement in 2009 after being laid off, Steve was presented with the great opportunity of dedicating more time than ever to his interest in the outdoors. He now volunteers up to 200 hours a year, mostly for the Foothill Coalition.
A sizable portion of those hours come from his involvement in the annual Rainier to Ruston Relay, the Coalition’s largest annual fundraiser. For nearly 20 years, he’s helped with everything from gravel inspections to trash pickups in anticipation of hosting thousands of runners.
After more than two decades into his membership, Steve became a board member in 2011 and brought with him not only time and energy, but a strong desire to keep the Foothills Coalition on a path to success.
“I have this vested interest in local trails and enjoy staying really informed and up-to-date,” he said. “I think my knowledge and interest is valuable now and will continue to be down the line, as there are always challenges that we’ll be faced with.”
And during his nearly 40 years of involvement with local trails, Steve has seen the Coalition face its fair share of challenges, from a movement in the early 1990s to completely halt the progression of the Foothills Trail to current land use conflicts preventing the trail’s completion.
“Wilkeson still isn’t connected to Carbonado,” Steve said. “A lot of people who dreamed this dream have passed on. We want to see it done, a full route, separate from the roads, something people can bike or backpack over multiple days.”
The good news? Progress continues – whether it’s the increasing volunteer support or the impending construction of the Doc Tait Memorial Plaza, which has been in the works for decades.
In addition to completing a trail from Mt. Rainier to the Puget Sound, Steve sees one of the most important missions of the trail to be building healthy communities and creating positive lifelong habits for the community.
“Cycling and trails, those are the causes I’ve chosen to stick with. They’re great for the community. It’s not just about getting healthy later in life, it’s about making those habits possible from the start,” he said. “And that’s easier for everyone when local trails are accessible to all.”
Steve Brown continues to be a cornerstone of the Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition and his journey is far from over.
