Board Member Spotlight: Janine Williamson
For Foothills Coalition board member Janine Williamson, the trail isn’t just a place to ride or hike, it’s a living thread that ties her past, present, and future together. She joined the board just three years ago, but her connection to the trail goes back more than a century.
Janine’s great-grandfather emigrated from Finland in the early 1900s and made his way to Wilkeson where he worked in the coal mines. Her grandfather and great-aunt were born there, attended Wilkeson’s historic school, and grew up in a community shaped by mining, timber, and the rail line that once carried people and coal through the Carbon River Canyon. Her great-grandmother was a dressmaker in town, supporting the family after Janine’s great-grandfather became ill from his career in mining and passed away in a sanatorium in Tacoma.
As a child, Janine’s dad took her and her four siblings for long walks along the railroad tracks on the weekends, each carefully stepping along the railroad ties over the Carbon River outside of Coker while the water rushed underneath.
“I felt so small, like I could fall between the tracks, but my dad was there with me making sure we were all safe,” she said. “We just kept walking the tracks and made our way toward Wilkeson where there wasn’t any trail at all. We kept going until we got tired.”
Decades later, during the pandemic, Janine returned to the trails again, this time on a gravel bike. At first she didn’t make the connection of the trail to her childhood memories, but when she did, everything clicked.
“It was the same sound of the water, the same maple trees, truly heaven on earth just as I had remembered it,” she said. “I fell back in love with that stretch all over again.”
When she learned that the section was a missing link in completing a trail all the way from the Puget Sound to Mt. Rainier National Park, she discovered that the Foothills Rails-to-Tails Coalition was leading the effort to complete the trail and she was inspired to get involved.
Sharing her vision at the Coalition was Pat Johnson, former mayor of Buckley, who shared a similar Finnish ancestry. The two would imagine their ancestors riding the train and enjoying the same majestic views of the mountain that they did.
“This particular stretch of trail is why I’m on the board,” Janine said. “I’m obsessed in the best possible way and love being out there. I respect the people who came before us in this effort, everyone who has worked for decades to get the trail to this point, and I want everyone in our community to be able to enjoy it.
She also emphasizes the importance of the tribal lands the trail traverses and the stewardship of tribes like the Puyallup and Nusqually, whose fisheries and salmon habitat remain essential parts of the region’s history and future.
In addition to a personal love for the trail, Janine brings a strong sales and financial background accompanied by the refusal to take “no” for an answer. She believes the final miles of the Foothills Trail can be completed, but it will take partnership, persistence, and major investment.
“We need about ten more miles to close the remaining gaps,” she said. “That’s all – but those miles will take time, relationships, and big-time funding.”
In total, Parametrix estimates up to $40 million may be needed to complete the remaining stretch of trail but she believes it’s possible with the support of large local companies, estate gifts, and expanded trail membership programs.
She has seen first hand the possibilities interconnected trails create – herself riding 170 miles the week the Spiketon Ditch Bridge reopened (just because she could), and has talked to people who’ve made even longer treks – one pedaling from Kirkalnd, WA to San Francisco, CA in just five days. One day, rail trails could even connect Washington State to Washington, DC.
What energizes Janine most is the sense of unity she feels with the current board members and organization leadership.
“This group is so cohesive. Bre’s leadership is really moving us forward. She understands the vision and I think with this great group on the board, we’re going to make real progress,” she said. “We’re all passionate about exploring the outdoors, the potential of longer rides, and more adventure. It’s why we all live here in the PNW and we want these possibilities and amazing experiences not only for ourselves, but for our communities, and the generations to come.”
