History & Mission

Board of Directors

SEAtrails consists of volunteer community members located throughout Southeast Alaska.

SEAtrails Board 2007 Back row: Jim Mitchell, Karen Petersen, Elaine Price, Ron Crenshaw, Annie Boyce, Zieak McFarland, Andrew Thoms. Front row: Karen Elton, Karen Smith (Vista volunteer), Amber King

Karen Petersen is a returned Peace Corps volunteer who moved to Southeast Alaska in 1986. She began her career in tourism as a tour bus driver in Ketchikan. After spending 5 years in the trenches as a bus driver, she moved up through the ranks to division manager of Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West. After 6 years as a tour company manager, she moved to Prince of Wales Island in 1996. She currently works for the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Cooperative Extension Service as a program assistant offering assistance to rural communities impacted by the downturn in the timber industry. Petersen lives in Thorne Bay on the east side of POW. When she is not running her own business, or chairing tourism meetings, she is an EMT 2 on the Thorne Bay EMS squad and is enrolled in UAF’s College of Rural Development working toward a Master’s in Rural Development.

In addition to representing Ketchikan on the SEAtrails Board of Directors since October 2006, Jim Mitchell has been President of the Ketchikan Outdoor Recreation and Trails Coalition since it incorporated in 1998. He and his wife, Diane, moved to Ketchikan in 1992 from northern Minnesota. Mitchell worked as a psychologist in a residential treatment facility and in a general counseling setting and is now retired. His family, including son Roy, 11, enjoy fishing, crabbing, shrimping, boat camping, hiking and mushroom collecting in the Ketchikan and Prince of Wales area.

Ryan “Zieak” McFarland is the Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Petersburg. He first moved to Alaska in 1995 from New York. McFarland has been involved with SEAtrails since the conceptual meeting in Sitka in July 2000. “My experience with trail building began in Boy Scouts for service projects and became seasonal work for me during college,” says McFarland. “Now I’m able to turn a love of trails into new and improved trails for the community — it’s a dream come true.”

Elaine Price is the Projects Manager for the City of Coffman Cove. Price has lived in Alaska for 38 years with 28 in Coffman Cove. “I enjoy being on the SEAtrails board because I get to serve with a great bunch of people who love Alaska as much as I do,” says Price. “SEAtrails is a great organization that promotes economic development by encouraging the independent traveler.” Price has traveled all over Southeast Alaska, Kodiak, Afognak and some in the interior.

Amber King is the Child Care Food Program Manager with the Association for the Education of Young Children – Southeast Alaska. She holds an Associate of Arts degree obtained from the Art Institute of Seattle where she inspired her creative passions of the culinary variety but also a greater understanding and intrigue of business, marketing and design aspects. As a lifelong Southeast Alaskan resident, she spent her youth commercial fishing Alaskan waters. “I am an avid skier, hiker and love outdoor adventure with my family and playing softball,” says King. “I seek to further the economic diversity, education opportunities in Southeast, promote independent travel and responsible economic development in the region I love.” Her goals for the future include furthering her education, raising a family and continuing her volunteer work. “I see SEAtrails as a uniting entity to bring together new ideas and promote positive change in the region as well as unite communities through transportation, education and the common threads that will bind us in times to come,” says King.

Carol Rushmore is the Economic Development Director for the City of Wrangell and the most recent addition to the SEAtrails board. Carol serves on the Southeast Alaska Tourism Council and has traveled extensively throughout the region.