September, 2005, Sacramento, California:

America's hiking community has lost a longtime pioneer of hiking opportunities and trail preservation. Louise Marshall, a national leader in the hiking movement for the last 40 years, author, former Pacific Crest Trail Association President, founder of Washington Trails Association, co-founder of the American Hiking Society, and the first female REI board member passed away at her Lynnwood, Wash., home on Wednesday August 24 of natural causes. She was 90.

Born in 1915, Louise Marshall was venturing into the woods before most of today's hikers were a gleam in their parents' eyes. Throughout her life, she shared her passion for the outdoors with others, and inspired hikers to work for preservation of the trails under their boots.

"Her contributions made a profound impact on the hiking movement, both locally and nationally," said Elizabeth Lunney, executive director of the Washington Trails Association and board member of the American Hiking Society.

"Louise's legacy is not just in the amazing contributions she made to trails, but in the way she made them," said Lunney. "She really knew the issues that impacted hikers. She spoke her mind. She brought people together. Her actions made a difference, and they inspire us as trail activists today."

"Louise Marshall was a legend in the hiking community. We all benefit today from her tremendous contributions to foot trails and hiking," said Gregory Miller, president of the American Hiking Society.

"Outdoor people nationally, and particularly those of us in the Northwest, owe a great debt of gratitude to Louise Marshall," said Michael Collins, Vice President of Public Affairs at Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI). "In addition to her 18 years of board service to REI and its members, Louise also was a very important national leader and advocate for the trails that we appreciate and enjoy today."

Louise first ventured out on the trails of Palisades State Park, New York, at a young age. By high school she and two girlfriends had formed the "Unholy Three" and were hiking every weekend. She met her husband Bill in graduate School at Columbia University, and they moved west to Seattle in 1952, eager for hiking adventures in the great Northwest.

But there was a problem: they could find no information on Northwest trails. Bill worked as an airline mechanic over some weekends, so Louise became a regular on outings with The Mountaineers, Seattle's hiking and climbing club. Soon Louise became the Backpack Committee Chair and began compiling trail information from the club's outings. Her goal was to provide information to a public hungry for hiking opportunities.

She later distilled her experience into the book 100 Hikes in Western Washington, published by The Mountaineers in 1966. The initial print run was 5000 copies. To everyone's surprise, the book leapt to the top of the best seller list in Seattle for eight weeks and The Mountaineers were forced to schedule additional print runs to keep up with demand. The Northwest hiking boom had begun.

Also in 1966, Louise started a little newsletter of trail news she named Signpost. As with her book, Signpost became an instant hit and the circulation quickly grew to over 3,000.

"Signpost had a tremendous following and it was amazing to me how copies circulated, were borrowed, loaned, pilfered or otherwise shared," said Bernie Smith, who is a retired District Ranger employed with the Forest Service. "It gave hikers an opportunity to be informed on issues of importance to them."

Signpost gave Louise a platform from which she could advocate for the protection of trails, and many victories for trails and wildlands followed. She fought battles for hikers' rights and against wilderness logging, road building, all terrain vehicles, and mining. Under Louise's leadership, trail activists stopped the building of a road from Lake Ozette to Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park. They also protested at the Suiattle River trailhead in hopes of halting construction of an open pit mine by the Kennecott Copper Company at Image Lake near Glacier Peak (today the Glacier Peak Wilderness). Some 50 people showed up, including Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Kennecott cancelled its plans for the mine.

Always the organizer, Louise took Signpost to the next level when she brought together a network of trail activists through the creation of the Washington Trails Association (WTA). WTA soon became the political voice for Northwest hikers, and it still is today.

In hindsight Louise said later that she did it all backwards. "You are supposed to first start an organization and then a publication. I did it the other way around," she said.

Louise's passion for trails was unstoppable, and in the mid-1970s she regularly traveled to Washington, DC, to lobby Congress about trails and wilderness issues. In 1976 Louise co-founded another organization, this one to speak for trails at the national level. As President of the American Hiking Society (AHS) in the late 1980s, funding for trails on federal lands was her top priority, and she worked hard to help pass legislation that increased budgets for trails in both National Parks and Forests.

"Louise was the ultimate networker. She knew all kinds of folks in key positions and scrounged Forest Service bucks for all kinds of trail projects," said Bernie Smith. "She was what good politicians used to be -- a tireless and selfless worker for the good of the community. She was a uniquely strong woman who was at once a devils advocate, a watch dog, a mentor, a collaborator, and an advisor."

One trail that captured Louise's heart was the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (PCT). As co-founder of the American Hiking Society and a member of the Pacific Crest Trail Systems Conference, Louise Marshall served on the Pacific Crest Trail Advisory Council. The Council, established through the National Scenic Trails Act of 1968, helped to develop the PCT's route, design, and management plan. When, in 1977, the Pacific Crest Trail Systems Conference was incorporated Louise continued to serve as a member. In 1987, the Conference's longtime leader Warren Rogers stepped down and Louise stepped up, along with Larry Cash and Charles Vogel, to assume leadership for the group.

In 1991, Louise retired as president of the American Hiking Society and went to work for the Conference as a part-time Acting Executive Director. When Larry Cash asked to be replaced as President in March 1992, Louise, in her seventies, took on the role. Under her leadership, the organization:

In March 1993, with her husband's health failing and the stress of the job wearing her down, Louise resigned the Presidency.


Closer to home, Louise was dedicated to parks and open space preservation in the city of Lynnwood, Wash., where she lived for 53 years. She chaired the city Parks Commission, and sold the Marshall property, now Spruce Park, to the City of Lynnwood with the stipulation that it become a public park.

"My mother taught by action and example", said Ann Marshall, her daughter, who worked closely with Louise on a number of projects, including Signpost magazine. "Her example was that there are no limits to what you can do. Put your mind to it and you can get it done."

In many ways, Louise Marshall was the elder of her tribe. She experienced the explosive growth of hiking and significantly shaped the community that supports it.

"She was one of the towering, unsung heroes of the American trails community. She helped initiate or organize many efforts that have borne wonderful fruit." said Gary Werner, executive director of Partnership for the National Trails System.

A few months ago, when asked what words of wisdom she wants to pass on to future generations of hikers, Louise thoughtfully replied, "Get organized. Most hikers are not joiners, but we need to be united behind a movement to be heard."

Louise spent her last days in the company of family and loved ones.

Louise Alice Burnett was born on May 7, 1915, in Boston Massachusetts to Dr. Louis Raymond Burnett and Isabel Knowlton Morss Thomas. Her brother, Pelham, and sister, Barbara, predeceased her. She is survived by her younger brother, Loring Burnett, of Huntington, NY.

She is also survived by her two daughters, Ann Marshall of Port Orchard, Washington, and Elizabeth Ferguson, of East Boston, Massachusetts; by grandchildren Amber Stagg of Fort Worth, Texas; Marshall Stagg of Jacksonville Beach, Florida; Erin Ferguson, currently living in Wales; Sarah Ferguson of Madison, Wisconsin; and Emma Ferguson, currently studying in Madrid, Spain; and by great-granddaughter Talyn Stagg of Jacksonville, Florida.

The family asks that people remember her and honor her legacy by hiking and by getting involved in an organization that works to protect trails and hiking opportunities.


The PCTA is "The Voice" of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. The mission of the Association is to protect, preserve and promote the PCT so as to reflect its world-class significance for the enjoyment, education and adventure of hikers and equestrians.

For more information, contact the PCTA at 916-285-1846 or send an e-mail.

Links:

Washington Trails Association

American Hiking Society

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