The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics is an organization dedicated to the responsible enjoyment and active stewardship of the outdoors by all people, worldwide. Leave No Trace is a set of seven principles with the intent to take care of the world's natural spaces. The center was formed in 1994, but the concept of Leave No Trace dates back more than 40 years. It was originally a concept started by the National Parks and the Forest Service. The first formal training was out of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). The center is based out of Boulder, CO and includes several different tactics for promoting the message behind Leave No Trace. Here is each principle with a brief description of how to apply it while you enjoy the outdoors.
Plan Ahead and Prepare In order to correctly do this guideline you must think ahead about the place you are going to and the things you might need. Many of the things you need are good for safety as much as they are for leaving no trace. Take for instance going on a hike. If you bring plenty of water and food you will have plenty of energy to enjoy the entire hike. That way if you are faced with an ethical decision you will be able to make the right decision.
Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
This can work in the front country as much as it does in the back-country. Everyone at one time or another has been to a park that has a switchback that also has a second trail where people have cut through in order to make the trail shorter or to avoid a mud puddle. The problem with this is that every time someone takes a step around something a new part of the trail is formed. Over time this causes a three foot wide trail to turn in to a ten foot wide trail. No one likes that.
Dispose of Waste Properly
This is one of the most straight forward ethical guidelines and it may be one of the most frequently abused. Remember this saying, Pack it in, Pack it out. A difficult part of this ethic is defining what waste is. Is an orange peel waste? Is poop waste? Is a candy wrapper waste? Those are all good questions. The answer to the question, what is waste, is that anything not in nature before a human came in to that environment should be considered waste. Even apple and orange peels should be carried out because they are not native to the ecosystem. They can make the local animals sick if they eat something they are not used to. Even worse it can make animals begin to relate people with food and that leads to many animal encounters among humans.
Leave What You Find
This is another ethic that is very straight forward. Leave everything that you enjoy while in the outdoors there for others to enjoy it in the future. Now again these are not rules but guidelines. When someone goes to the beach with a ten year old they should not be a bah humbug and not let them take any sea shells home. At least get the children to understand why they should search all day for that one special shell and only take that one home. Help them to understand that if they leave some for the future, they may be bigger or more beautiful when they come back next Summer.
Minimize Campfire Impact
With this ethic I always think of a camping trip I went on during the Summer Solstice. We got done hiking and as normal got busy when we got back to camp. My friends and I all immediately began searching for firewood, putting the tent up and cooking dinner. We immediately started a fire and we did not realize that the sun was not going to set until after 9 PM. We had a fire going for nearly 2 hours before the sun went down. naturally we ran out of fire wood around 10 PM.
Respect Wildlife
The important thing to remember with this ethic is that plants and animals both constitute Wildlife. We should not cut down trees or feed animals. We can enjoy animals and photograph them, but remember that we are visiting their home and should respect them. The more you respect wildlife the more likely you are not to have a problem with them.
Be Considerate of Other Visitors
If you follow the previous 6 principles than you will be considerate of other visitors. Remember that many people travel to the outdoors in order to get away from the things we have back in our daily lives. A campsite is not the place to enjoy a new CD your favorite Rock-N-Roll band came out with. Remember back to when you were a child going to spend the night at someone else's house and your mother told you to be on your best behavior. That does not mean you cannot have fun, but it does mean you need to respect other visitors.
I hope this helps you understand how to better care for the places you enjoy. Always remember Leave No Trace are a set of principles, not rules. People should not be cops out there enforcing rules. Try to help others enjoy the places we go to play. The more people that enjoy the outdoors, the more people will eventually appreciate the places we have to recreate.
Below are some websites to help you find more info about the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics.
https://lnt.org/
http://travelingtrainers.blogspot.com
http://www.landmarklearning.org/
www.nols.edu
Don't forget to check out Blue Ridge Bandit on Facebook to see more awesome pictures of the places I have written about.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Ridge-Bandit/190721607643691?sk=wall
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