New Research at Colorado State University

Yesterday, Dana Watts and I travelled to the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins, to talk with Dr. Peter Newman, Ph.D, about his recent work. Newman has been conducting research in Rocky Mountain National Park about use, impacts and human behavior in protected areas.

Even if use in national parks is leveling off, over 300+ million people are visiting national parks each year. Newman made the point that where there is extraordinarily high use, there are also inevitable impacts. His research is helping to identify that relationship between use and impact, as well as the best methods to mitigate those impacts.

Newman believes that Leave No Trace is a very important way to help people think about what they’re doing in protected areas as well as how they are doing it. This, in turn, will help people protect those areas. His research will be used by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics to refine and revise education, tools and communication, thus we greatly anticipate his next set of outcomes.

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

Giant Sequoias

I just learned that Giant Sequoias are more amazing than I had ever realized. These magnificent species grow up to 300 ft. tall. They move one full ton of water up their trunk every day. The oldest specimens are approximately 3000 years old. They are some of the largest organisms on the planet. These trees have both significant ecological and spiritual value, and are truly one of the most unique species on earth. However, as the story so commonly goes, they're in peril. Threatened by global warming and eventual water deficits that are predicted to come with rising temperatures. If the Giant Sequoias don't have enough water, like most living things, they'll die. It truly saddens me to think that of what we've done to so many species on our planet in such a short time. 

Though it's sometimes hard to find the silver lining when things seem out of control and beyond the crisis point, you have to look for it. There is a silver lining to the story of the Giant Sequoias. Scientists are working on the problem from a variety of angles. They're studying Giant Sequoias more now than ever. Their research methods have changed. The data is better, and we now know how to better protect these giants. There are also more positive large-scale changes occurring to combat the bigger issue of human-caused climate change: hybrid cars, reduced emissions, greater awareness of environmental issues, more focus by government, industry and the general public.



As stewards of the land, I think we need to do all we can to protect our environment. Be it from recreational impacts or impacts that are more global in scale. If we can collectively work to minimize our footprint on the environment - at the micro and macro levels - we're all going to be better off in the long run. Especially those Giant Sequoias.