Leave What You Find

In the latest issue of High Country News is an article titled, "Pillaging the Past." It outlines how "90% of archaeological sites in the Southwest have been vandalized," and that "a land once rich with ancestry has been scraped entirely clean."

The Southwest is a beautiful landscape that has a wealth of opportunities to discover the rich history of the past. The time I have been lucky to spend in the Grand Gulch made me feel as if I was walking through a living history museum. To discover kiva's, pottery shards, arrowheads, and the pictographs of the Anasazi people was an amazing experience and one that I want many people to have the opportunity to discover. Leave No Trace outlines in its fourth principle to Leave What You Find. This includes leaving artifacts, fossils and historic structures intact. Please be considerate of other visitors when you visit these sacred heritage sites so that they continue to exist. 

If two's company and three's a crowd...

...then what is 50,000+? Must be the Bolder Boulder, the annual 10K which just experienced it's 30th anniversary this Memorial Day. The race really is a celebration, drawing in the entire community of Boulder, much like the Boston Marathon does for its city on Patriot's Day.

But 50,000+ runners... That's a lot of water and cups and Porta-Potties. The race (like many others around the country) has made strides, becoming a little more "green" in the process.

Here are some interesting facts from the website:

• CU recycled 14,300 pounds of cardboard generated from event vendors
  
• Recycling the beverage containers at just the race finish resulted in over 4,600 pounds of recycled plastic and aluminum
  
• Recycling efforts from the event in recent years are equivalent to conserving: 39 (40 ft) Douglas Firs, 670 lbs of air pollution, 78,000 gallons of water, 46 kilowatt hours of electricity and 4,000 gallons of gasoline.
  

While the extensive busing routes getting people to the event were probably introduced more out of necessity (where would everyone park their cars?), they also serve to cut down on the race's carbon footprint and are a much more relaxing way to get to the start than sitting in traffic on 36.

For more information about the race, visit: http://www.bolderboulder.com/Our_Community/beneficiaries.htm

Planes, Trains and Automobiles... Oh My!

I am an ETC who manages the CTR at LNT.

In a world without the three-letter acronyms, this actually means that I am serving as the Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC), who will be working toward managing a Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) program for Leave No Trace (Leave No Trace).

Why? As one internal environmental initiative, the staff at the Center is partnering with GO Boulder and the City of Boulder to reduce the cost and carbon footprint of our operations by reducing vehicle trips and changing our employee behavior. In a town where 53 percent of its residents drive alone to work, and 80 percent of individuals who commute in to the town drive alone, a corporate carbon footprint is a big deal. Reducing employee dependence on vehicles is the key, but how varies from business to business.

To find out the answers for Leave No Trace, the staff is undertaking an internal assessment this week to qualify & quantify their personal behaviors & transportation patterns. Once individual responses are compiled, GO Boulder will be able to offer strategies that are available in our area, and conducive to our workplace's culture, like a pool bike program for errands during the day, teleworking, or Eco Passes for the bus system.

We'll keep you posted on what we find out, and where we will go next!

National Get Outdoors Day - Denver, CO

JUNE 14, 2008: DENVER COLORADO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2008

Contact: [Susan Alden-Weingardt, Partnership Coordinator, USFS, Rocky Mountain Region and Co-Chair of June 14 event, 303-275-5401, salden@fs.fed.us]

Fun in the sun at Sloan’s Lake Park on National Get Outdoors Day

DENVER, Colorado, (May 21, 2008) – Governor Bill Ritter has declared June Great Outdoors Month in Colorado and President Bush has proclaimed June 14 as National Get Outdoors Day. Denver’s celebration will be a signature event highlighting the importance of enjoying our amazing outdoor recreation opportunities.

Avid4 Adventure, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Parks and Recreation, Outward Bound, REI, The US Forest Service, The National Park Service, Vail Resorts, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado and many more sponsors will host the inaugural National Get Outdoors Day on Saturday, June 14, 2008, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Sloan’s Lake Park in Denver. Designed to become an annual summer event, National Get Outdoors Day encourages healthy, active outdoor fun. Participating partners will offer opportunities for families across the United States to experience traditional and non-traditional types of outdoor activities.

This exciting, unique event is designed to reach first-time visitors to public lands and to reconnect our youth to the great outdoors. Booths and outdoor stations will offer a variety of fun activities such as a mountain bike course, rock climbing and geocaching.

National Get Outdoors Day is an outgrowth of the Get Outdoors USA! campaign, which encourages everyone, especially our youth, to seek out healthy, active outdoor lives and embrace our parks, forests, refuges and other public lands and waters.

For more information visit www.nationalgetoutdoorsday.org. To reserve space for a booth call Bill Kight at 970-948-1894 or email bkight@fs.fed.us.

Coyote Ugly

Photo: My dad and son contemplating rocks on my parents' beach. Wonder what ended up in their pockets?

A coyote ate my parent’s cat about ten days ago. Maggie, the beloved tabby lived the life of a panther, prowling my parents grounds like a predator. She served up a heavy dose of dead birds and maimed rats to the doorstep every morning until she met her fate in the probable mouth of a coyote. Poor, unwitting Maggie became an inevitable product of the same food chain of which she so prolifically participated.

My mother looks over her garden describing the coyotes’ paths through the thick blackberry brambles and up past the house with mild grief but also a bit of wonder and exhilaration about this close brush with wildlife. She and my dad made a deliberate choice to leave Ohio and retire on a rural, verdant island on Puget Sound in Washington five years ago, bringing a rush new experiences with the natural world.

Much of what we have discussed here at Leave No Trace in recent months has been about Leave No Trace’s role in the “increasing participation in the outdoors” national discussion. We’ve talk a lot about what it takes to invest families and youth in their natural environments and when and when Leave No Trace enters that picture. For my parents, who always felt a remote connection to the outdoors even if it was merely feeling the Midwestern humidity through the screen door are, late in their lives, awash in nature and developing a new relationship to it.

They have suddenly begun a conversation with me about the ethics of dragging driftwood from their beach. My mom read Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods and wonders if I’m using it at work. They point out the invasive species overrunning their woods. They’re mad about the coyotes and the deer eating their tulips. My parents are the smallest case study in transformation. They have an increased relationship with their national world thus it is an enhanced, more attuned, more inquisitive one.

Cell Phones Everywhere!

Cell phone use is on the rise in the United States and abroad. Today, more people have cell phones than fixed telephone lines both in the U.S. and internationally. There are more than one billion cell phone users worldwide. In the U.S. alone, there are 205 million wireless subscribers.

What does all this have to do with the outdoors?

Historically, people went outside to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. A local trail was a way to get relief, if only temporary, from fax machines, phones, voice mail, email – technology in general. However, due to the substantial rise in cell phone use, our wildlands are more “wired” than ever. No longer is the top of the mountain, the base of the crag or the trail by the creek a place of solitude and escape. It is, in many areas, just as connected via technology as anywhere. More and more people are carrying and using their cell phones in the out of doors. Cell phones can be a useful tool in the event of an emergency but can also be a significant detriment to ones outdoor experience.

In order to help those who carry and use cell phones in the out of doors do so in a way that minimizes the social impacts on others, the Center for Outdoor Ethics has developed the following cell phone use guidance:

• It is recognized that many outdoor recreationists carry cell phones for safety and emergencies. Be considerate of other visitors: carry and use cell phones out-of-sight and sound of other people. Keep them turned off until needed or left in a pocket on the “vibrate” or “silent” ringer setting.

• Be self reliant, whether carrying cell phones or not. Don’t leave ill-prepared or engage in risky actions just because you have a cell phone to call for rescue. Remember that in many remote areas cell phone coverage is limited or non-existent.

• Many people go to the out-of-doors to get away from technology. Please respect their desire for solitude and be considerate when using a cell phone.

On your next outing, please be mindful of how using cell phones (for non-emergency calls) can affect someone else’s outdoor experience.

Effectiveness of PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids)

Along the lines of Ben's latest blog, "Effectiveness of Trainer Courses," I'd like to summarize a few key points from a recent evaluation we conducted on the effectiveness of our kid's program PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids). Here is a summary of the report; the Center hopes to eventually have a PDF version available for the general public on our website:

Introduction
PEAK is a partnership program between the Center for Outdoor Ethics and REI; it began in 2003 as a means to provide Leave No Trace education to younger audiences.

The program has experienced substantial growth and new developments in recent years as the Center continues to expand it outreach to include a diversity of communities.

Methods
An online survey was conducted in March and April of this year. Community members recognized for their high involvement with Leave No Trace or the PEAK program were invited to participate.

A total of 155 responses were collected, analyzed and a formal report was produced.

Results
Of the 155 respondents, the majority had some formal Leave No Trace training, were working with youth in the 7-10 age range and were working with White/Caucasian youth.

The majority of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed with statements indicating that the program was a valuable experience for youth, age appropriate in its content, fun and engaging for participants and easy to facilitate by educators.

The majority of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed with statements indicating that the program was packaged and presented in a way that was preferable, in terms of durability, ease of use in a variety of classroom settings, and affordability.

Specific areas of improvement that were identified included:
Content that was more relevant to urban youth
Content that was more relevant to both younger (4-6) and older (13+) age groups
Content that was more appropriate for large groups.

Conclusion
The evaluation was successful in providing the Center with comprehensive data and information about the PEAK program's effectiveness through the lens of active community members.

Feedback, specifically addressing areas of improvement, will be used in future program developments (if it has not been addressed already).

**Note: the Education Department performed this evaluation as part of the Center's goal to conduct and expand upon its current research. Stayed tuned for other research developments in upcoming months.

Is the Leave No Trace Trainer Course Really Effective?

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics has developed a variety of printed educational materials and training programs to communicate Leave No Trace practices and ethics for over a decade. There has been little research, however, to evaluate how well these messages are absorbed and used by outdoor visitors. Dr. Jeff Marion and Melissa Daniels completed and published a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the 2-day Leave No Trace Trainer course in order to document and evaluate participants' gain and retention of knowledge, ethics, and reported behavior.

The questionnaires were developed based on the most current Leave No Trace information available in the Leave No Trace Skills & Ethics booklet series and Trainer course materials. Over a five month period, the researchers advertised their study through the database of Master Educators, contacted those who were offering Trainer courses, and asked if they were interested in participating in the study. In all, there were 20 courses that distributed pre-course and post-course questionnaires to the participants; an additional follow-up survey was conducted with these participants 4-5 months later. The researchers received a total of 166 pre-course, 156 post-course, and 112 follow-up surveys.

The Results:

The knowledge section contained 25 items, each counted as correct or incorrect and scored on a 100-point scale. The mean score for all knowledge test items improved significantly from a mean pre-course score of 70 to a post-course score of 82. There was a slight 3-point drop from post-course to follow-up, but the long-term change, pre to follow-up, remained statistically significant. Of the 25 knowledge questions, 17 showed significant improvement pre to post, with the greatest improvements in items related to repacking food, traveling off-trail, and scattering ashes. There were no significant declines pre to post.

The ethics section contained 16 items for which participants rated their agreement on a seven-point scale. These showed a similar pattern to knowledge for overall mean scores. Ethics scores for the pre-course survey were fairly high—5.8 on a scale of one to seven—and improved significantly on the post-course survey. The follow-up showed a significant decline from the post-course survey, but there was still a significant improvement pre- to follow-up.

Reported behavior was assessed at two points in time—pre-course and follow-up. These ten items had three possible responses and space for comments. Responses were scored as one, two, or three based on use of the most acceptable Leave No Trace practice. All mean scores for the items were above the middle response of 2, indicating that most respondents chose the most appropriate or second-most appropriate behavior, even prior to the course.

Summary:

The evaluation of the Trainer course curriculum indicates that it is successful in promoting Leave No Trace practices to participants. Research results revealed statistically significant improvement in Leave No Trace knowledge, ethics and outdoor practices both immediately following the course and 4-5 months later. Findings support the contention that improved Leave No Trace knowledge and ethics lead to the adoption of low impact practices.

For more information or to download the study and the questionnaire, please visit http://lnt.org/training/lntrelatedresearch.php

Leave No Trace Internship Program

At the suggestion of my advisor, I sought out an internship my senior year of college.  I ended up working at Leave No Trace, assisting in outreach and communications efforts.  In the process of a semester, I gained tremendous insight into the non-profit world and experience in a professional setting - neither of which I would have received in a classroom or lecture.  It was a valuable experience for me (in more ways than one - I am now the Community & Partnership Coordinator at the Center) and I always recommend an internship program for college students, particularly the Center's Internship program.

The Center is currently accepting applications for Summer and Fall 2008 interns.  More information can be found here.  Feel free to drop me a line with any questions you may have - or better yet, pass this information along to someone you think might be interested in working at the Center.

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics offers internships throughout the year, giving interns an opportunity to work on a variety of different projects and gain valuable experience in a number of areas, including:

• Education and Training
  
• Program Development
  
• Marketing
  
• Scientific Research
  
• Membership/Partnership Programs
  
• Non-profit Management
  
• Database Management
  
• Development/Fund Raising
  
• Grant Writing
  
• Curriculum Development
  
• General Outreach
  

Stop the oil crisis, drink tap water

Guest Blog courtesy of Eddy De Clercq, Leave No Trace Member.

"I’ve seen somebody drinking O2 water the other day. Not only it had artificial kiwi and apple flavour but also extra oxygen added. According the ‘manufacturer’, it uses patented technology from Life Technologies, Inc. to put extra oxygen into ordinary water. The resulting beverage has 10 times more oxygen (72mg) as ordinary water and provides an extra boost of energy by increasing the amount of oxygen in your blood. What a load of crap! Who needs this kind of water anyway? Nobody compos mentis does. Therefore one creates the need and tries to sell it with commercials like this:

"Call me a nag stuck in the middle ages, but where is the world is going? Which felon is inventing something like this? The answer is simple. Bottling water seems to be a big business these days. The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) - yes, such kind of associations do exist apparently - calculated that in the US alone, one consumed 8.8 billion gallons (33.3 billion) litres of bottled water which is worth 11.7 billion of wholesale dollar sales (7.3 billion Euro). That result doesn’t seem to be enough so one ‘invents’ rubbish like the above. Yes, I call it rubbish indeed. Several studies from consumers organisations revealed that bottled water isn’t healthier at all. In the contrary, some are even dangerous if you drink more than one glass of it. Flavoured waters contain preservatives like sorbates, benzoates and sugars/sweeteners. Why should you drink this? For the artificial glimpse of fruit? If you want to taste of fruit, you should EAT fruit which is much healthier.

"Then we come to ‘normal’ bottled water. Many people are reluctant versus tap water. They prefer mineral water, pushed by big media campaigns emphasizing that only water of volcanic origin or purified x number of years through the mountains can be really healthy. These people are therefore willing to fork out 150 to 600 times more money than for tap water. Prices can get up to 50 Euro per bottle! There are even restaurants with water sommeliers these days.

"Speaking of bottles. I’ve read an article saying that one needs at least 100 million barrels of crude oil and use an extra 500 million litre of water to make and fill (plastic) bottles with water. And than I didn’t mention the environmental burden caused by transporting all these bottles.

"Therefore it’s more than a wise idea to drink tap water instead. Sure, films like ‘Erin Brockovich’ and other scandals aren’t the best promotion for tap water. But keep in mind that tap water is one of the best regulated beverages you can think of. At least that’s a fact in Belgium where tap water needs to meet 61 criteria (taste, looks, composition, etc.). And indeed, there are some factors like pesticides, nitrites and nitrates (where experts say that the norm should be more strict than the current norm) do influence tap water, but I didn’t see any report that it doesn’t apply for bottled water too.

"The message you should remember is that you keep the use of bottled water to a minimum. Buy a decent, refillable bottle like the one you get from Leave No Trace when you become a member and fill it with tap water. Furthermore, be thrifty with potable water. Remember that only 1% of the water available on earth is potable. You’ve surely seen the images from people in Africa walking tens of kilometres to fill their jerrycan where we only need to open the tap and dissipate it. In Belgium we use up to 120 litres of tap water a day, which is below the European average. Only 3 to 5 litre of that amount is really used for food and beverage purposes. All the rest is used for washing-up, washing, cleaning, gardening, etc.. Please use rain water where applicable. Your car will be even better washed with rain water since you don’t have any calcification."

Dick’s Outdoor Adventure Tour

Denver 4/25-4/27: The Leave No Trace e-tour 2008 season kicked off the last weekend in April at the Dick’s Outdoor Adventure Tour in Denver, CO. After losing a battle with the wind shortly into Friday evening, we were rearing to go for the rest of the weekend. Although Saturday morning proved to be equally as challenging in the weather department, the afternoon sun peaked out, the customers followed and we were able to set up the Leave No Trace scavenger hunt for kids and families. The hunt proved to be successful as we were able to use this activity as a springboard into discussions about Leave No Trace skills and ethics at our booth. We look forward to seeing Nanette and the rest of the Dick’s Outdoor Adventure Tour crew throughout the summer. The Team officially hits the road in mid-May, until then…Safe Travels. ~Tracy Howard and Kate Bullock

PS - check out the new e-tour blog! Stay tuned for regular posts by the Leave No Trace e-tour: Tracy & Kate!

I'm Finally Cool

The other day, my son informed me that, particularly on Earth Day people want to Leave No Trace. He learned it at Mountain Day Camp, a summer camp program that also provides school-year programs for kid our Boulder, Colorado community. Mountain Day Camp, http://www.mountaindaycamp.com, infuses Leave No Trace into its entire curriculum and focuses on building community and connection to the natural world.

He told me all about Leave No Trace, what he had learned and also made some fascinating leaps such as: “When you Leave No Trace on Earth Day, you should walk quietly and avoid running because it hurts the earth less. Also, you don’t want to throw rocks on Earth Day.”

He got it for the first time, and was proud of me for working on behalf of the Leave No Trace ethos as he understood it. He thought I was cool for doing environmental work. It was thrilling.

PEAK and Teen Activity Packs on Sale

The PEAK Pack includes six fun and engaging field-tested Activities, which are designed to teach kids ages six to twelve about Leave No Trace. Each activity or "module" can be delivered in 30-60 minutes depending on group size, available time, etc. Regularly $49.95, now on sale through May 31st for $39.95.

The Teen Activity Pack is a supplement to the PEAK program and consists of four educational activities designed for older youth audiences. Regularly $24.95, now on sale through May 31st for $19.95.

The 2007 additions to the PEAK pack include two new modules: “Minimum Impact Match” and “A Leave No Trace Crime Scene.” Regularly $6.95, now on sale through May 31st for $5.55.

These are all available in English or Spanish, and can be found in the online store.

Guest Blogger: Mark Cohen

- Mark Cohen, Keen Footwear Field Service Representative - Rockies, organized and took part in the South Platte River Clean Up for Earth day.

I wanted to send along a heartfelt THANK YOU to all who helped support this years' South Platte River Clean Up. On a sunny and warm April 20th we had roughly 180 volunteers come out to assist with the effort including paddlers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. In the 6.5 mile stretch of river we worked on this year, which was only half of the distance of last years’ effort, the team managed to remove 4000 pounds of trash and debris from the river corridor. That matches last years’ collection total which reflects the growth of this effort and the willingness of the volunteers to make the effort. We had participants ranging from three to sixty-three years old, and as well, celebrated one young participants 7th birthday while on the river. The BBQ and raffle which took place afterwards fed nearly 200 people in Confluence Park and provided one of our non-profit partners, Leave No Trace, an opportunity to interact with the public & participants alike.

Once again the event attracted local media coverage and provided an example for the thousands on onlookers of how they too can make a difference. We are looking forward to continuing this tradition in the years to come and nurturing the partnerships that have grown out of this effort, as without all of your support the event would not be what it is today.

Thank you again for taking part in Earth Day!