By Rita Thompson Tinsley
Community volunteers are essential. According to Jason Williams, the Forest Service Trails and Wilderness Program Manager, “Public lands are best managed with public engagement.” It takes genuine selflessness and diligent leadership qualities to bring our trail systems and animal safety procedures to excellent standards, tree limbs above the rest.
Charles “Spike” Hicks was born in Kingman, where he claims, “Everyone has a nickname.” In 1970, Spike’s wife, Carol, became interested in horses while they were living in Del Mar, California. They both enjoyed riding and camping and continued their wilderness recreation after relocating to Prescott.
With a mission in mind, Spike traveled back to the California Sierras to work for an outfitter as a wrangler and packer. There he learned and perfected the techniques so that he could implement them to use in our local trail building efforts. Many became intrigued with the pack training that Spike shared with Back Country Horsemen and became active participants.
Spike, alongside a few of his tried-and-true trail colleagues, was a founder of Back Country Horsemen of Central Arizona, a vital resource for the forest service in the earlier days. Jason Williams and the forest service workers relied on Spike for organizing projects, packing equipment and supplies to the workers, and packing out what needed to go. Jason says, “I trusted Spike and learned a lot from him.”
In 1997, Spike helped put together what is now Animal Disaster Services (ADS) to provide shelter for area pets in emergencies. During the 2001 Indian Fire, ADS provided shelter for nearly 100 small animals, mostly dogs and cats, plus a goldfish in a mason jar. When ADS received two horses, portable corrals were positioned on the Mile High Middle School football field where Spike kept watch over them, sleeping in his truck overnight.
During the 2017 Goodwin Fire he spearheaded the sheltering of over 200 barn animals. This, along with the Viewpoint Fire evacuations, lead to the creation of Large Animal Shelter Emergency Readiness (LASER) with Spike at the helm. According to LASER’s Cathy Heath, Spike recognizes the potential in others and organizes them in the right place, with the right people, to create something unique. He has readily driven this community from milestone to milestone, without hesitation and without anything less than his best.
Karen Moseley grew up in Wickenburg and, without owning a horse, probably rode more horses than any horse owner there. She had a yearning to learn and eventually worked as a trail guide at a Colorado horse camp. By the time she moved with her family to Chino Valley, it became clear that Karen had an incredible ability to navigate trails, or as Jason Williams claims, “She always knows where north is.”
Karen developed one of the first women’s equine riding Facebook sites, Horsing Around, to engage others with her common interest in trail riding. Over the years, she has led many a group on wilderness and city trail adventures. She and husband Mark became intrigued by Spike’s packing class and quickly became involved with packing endeavors for the forest service.
One such project included an Eagle Scout’s efforts to remove old, loose barbed wire. The Boy Scout volunteers hiked in a week before and camped out during their service. Karen and Spike packed in their supplies daily and, at project end, the rolls of wire were weighed before adding to the packs so that the weight would be distributed equally on the packing animals.
“Karen brings great energy to other equestrians, educating them and enlisting them,” says Jason.
“Many people have helped me along the way with opportunities that have elevated my equestrian abilities and trail knowledge,” says Karen. “This is my way of giving back, by engaging others in our community.”
Jim Higgs is one of the few people with their own signature trail, Jim Higgs Trail #1937. He is also a co-founder of Back Country Horsemen of Central Arizona and served as a national director. With over 20 years as an Arizona Game & Fish wildlife manager, Jim is an exceptional and well-respected trailblazer with extraordinary history.
He has worked with the forest service to create 23 miles of trail. At 87, he still leads rides through the Verde River and other scenic trails on his wife’s molly mule, Tess. Jason deems Jim as, “Unstoppable. Someone who holds the forest service accountable for all trail users.”
“The commonality of these three community leaders,” says Williams, “is that they exhibit vision. They see the big picture.” And they care.
