Bigfoot Sightings...!

Bigfoot has had an extremely active summer! There have been rumors of sightings at the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City and the Lights On summer camp in Lander, WY. There has also been confirmation that Bigfoot was seen dancing up a storm at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Rocky Grass and Folks Fest, the Planet Bluegrass music festivals in Colorado. Apparently he likes to boogie! Keep your eyes peeled because Bigfoot could be attending an event near you. If you have not seen him yet, worry not. You can get your Bigfoot fix by taking this months Bigfoot Challenge and be entered to win great outdoor gear from our partners. Remember, you can reenter each month of 2010 for your chance to win!

Happy Adventuring...Kate, Tracy, and Bigfoot!

A Couple More Days for Bigfoot in August

When people take the Bigfoot Challenge, we always ask for pictures and stories. This recent submission was sent to us from Mary J. Hinchman.

"I shared my love of the outdoors and hiking with my dogs with a couple young families and their dogs. We did some letterboxing after making log books."


If you have not taken the Bigfoot Challenge in August, there is still time: http://lnt.org/bigfootchallenge/index.php

Bigfoot in August

New Bigfoot Challenges for August are up for you. Take the challenge this month at: http://lnt.org/bigfootchallenge/index.php

Bigfoot is Back this weekend!

Keep an eye out for Bigfoot this weekend. Word around the web is that he may be making an appearance at Rockygrass Festival in Lyons, CO. Could be true? I don't really know, there was something about an event called Seek the Peak in New Hampshire, word around the east coast is that Bigfoot is making an appearance there too? Guess we will have to go to one of those events or check this blog again in a couple of days to see what happens.

If you would like Bigfoot to come to an event in your area, send him an email, Bigfoot@LNT.org.

Have a great weekend!

Responsible Recreation - It Starts with Youth!

In addition to running a PEAK/Teen activity contest (Check out this month's Bigfoot Challenge), the Center recently added a second deadline to it's Packing with PEAK grant program - August 1, 2010.

PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids) is an educational program that introduces youth to the concepts of environmental stewardship, responsible recreation and the principles of Leave No Trace.

Check out the PEAK page for a more in-depth look at the teaching resources.

As a partnership program between the Center and REI, many REI stores have PEAK resources available to borrow. Check out your local REI for more details

To apply for this small teaching grant, please visit our online application. The second deadline is August 1, 2010. If you represent and/or work with diverse communities, please consider our Connect Grant program. The second deadline is also August 1, 2010 and the application can be found in the same location.

Happy Summer!

Bigfoot Challenge Winner for April!

We recently awarded our April Bigfoot Challenge Winner, Paul Chrismon, with a bigfoot patch, a Leave No Trace Smartwool Beanie, a Leave No Trace Frisbee, a Coleman Sleeping Bag, a Coleman Camp Cookset, and a Platypus Hiker Hydrator Hydration kit. Enter the Bigfoot Challenge this month to see if you can win the June prize of some more sweet outdoor gear. Here is a little bit more information about Paul, our April Winner.

My name is Paul Chrismon, I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I am involved in Hiking, Camping, and Boy Scouts as an adult leader for my sons pack. I got involved with Leave No Trace through Boy Scouts and by leading our den and pack through the requirements to earn their Leave No Trace patch. It has been rewarding to me personally as I was able to watch and see what our scouts learned and then apply it on our last camp out and in our service projects. I am grateful for an organization like yours that help people learn what they need to do to help preserve the environment and the natural resources around us.

Thanks Paul for taking the Bigfoot Challenge and thank you for all that you do for Leave No Trace!

New for Bigfoot Challengers: PEAK and Teen Activity Contest this month puts educator creativity to the test.

This month, Bigfoot is putting Leave No Trace educators and community members to the test, to submit their ideas for new teaching activities to each of these programs. To take part in the PEAK and Teen activity contest, please complete this form: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/286168/peak-and-teen-activity-submission-contest

The PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids) and Teen programs are aimed at teaching responsible recreation and environmental stewardship to youth through hands-on activities. Both the PEAK and Teen “packs” provide materials and resources for educators teaching youth about Leave No Trace.

One PEAK and one Teen activity will be chosen as the contest winners. Winners will be announced to the community and will be awarded outdoor gear from a Leave No Trace partner. The winning submissions will be hosted on the Leave No Trace website as free downloadable activities for educators and youth leaders.

On behalf of the Center and Bigfoot, thank you for your participation!

Dear Education Department: Activate, Volunteer, Advocate

Dear Education Department,

I recently visited your organization’s website and remember hearing about the Leave No Trace principles years ago at summer camp. Anyway, I am very interested in what you do and would like to get involved. I was wondering if there are any volunteer opportunities? I do not live in Colorado so I was looking for something that I could get involved with more locally.

Thanks for your help,

Enthusiastic Volunteer

**************

Dear Enthusiastic Volunteer,

Thank you for your email! We love hearing about people getting involved in their local communities. The Leave No Trace program relies heavily on volunteers—conducting workshops, attending outdoor events, doing school presentations and setting up informational booths. Here are some tips for ways that you can get involved with Leave No Trace as a volunteer:

1) Contact your State Advocate. Their information is available on the state Community Pages. Often Advocates receive multiple event requests at a time and could use the help of extra volunteers.

2) Get involved with the Leave No Trace Hot Spot program. The program is aimed at improving the condition of a designated “Hot Spot” or recreational area that is experiencing multiple visitor created impacts. The current site the Center is working on is the Red River Gorge in eastern Kentucky. More sites will be determined in the coming year and a list of all other Hot Spot applicants will be listed on the Hot Spot page with contact information on how to get involved.

3) Get involved in national initiatives/events. An example is National Get Outdoors Day on June 12, 2010, an event aimed at getting kids and families outdoors by introducing them to local resources and providing a host of hands on activities to teach them about outdoor recreation how to care for our natural resources. Many metropolitan areas around the country will be celebrating this event and all are looking for volunteers.

4) Take part in our Bigfoot Challenge. One of our most recent Challenges is a PEAK and Teen Activity Submission Contest. If you are an educator that has a great idea for teaching kids about Leave No Trace submit your activity. See the side bar for details.

5) Finally, stay tuned for our upcoming volunteer registry. We will now have a way for folks to express their interest in volunteers and get them connected with each other and with local events.

Thanks for all your support!

Sincerely,

Education Department

Photo: Volunteering at the National Get Outdoors Day event in Denver last year.

March Bigfoot Challenge Winner!

March's Bigfoot Challenge winner is Erin Barker, Natural Science Program Coordinator from Cedar Creek, TX.

Bigfoot recently sat down with Erin for a little Q&A to learn more about how she spends her time outside and how she is involved in the Leave No Trace Program.

Bigfoot: What do you like to do outside?

Erin: Hiking, camping, exploring, teaching outdoor programs

Bigfoot: Who do you work with?

Erin: I work for the Lower Colorado River Authority at McKinney Roughs Nature Park.

Bigfoot: Why do you volunteer for Leave No Trace?

Erin: It’s a great program teaches the fundamentals of low impact land use.

Bigfoot: What was your original intention getting involved with Leave No Trace?

Erin: Get trained to teach Leave No Trace programs to youth and adults.

Bigfoot: How did your Bigfoot Challenge go?

Erin: Great, we did an Earth Day Festival, had Leave No Trace short programs and had REI demonstrating Leave No Trace using an interactive tent maze activity.

Bigfoot: Why is Leave No Trace important to you?

Erin: I think Leave No Trace is important because it’s a program that imparts some pretty important principles about land stewardship but in a fun, accessible way.

Bigfoot: If everyone out there could do ONE thing to Leave No Trace, what would it be?

Erin: Leave only footprints, take only memories!

Service and Leave No Trace Outreach in Northeast Georgia

One of favorite parts of working at Leave No Trace is receiving follow-up stories and photos from our grant recipients. They all have a unique story to tell and the photographs are a visual reminder of how many different ways to Leave No Trace program is used across the country.

Here are some photos from a recent Tools for Teaching grant recipient in northeast Georgia conducting a trail rehabilitation project on over 13 miles of the Chattachoochee National Forest. They also hosted a Leave No Trace awareness program.

This project was a great example of various youth and adult community groups working together. Close to 700 people participated, representing: Boy Scouts of America - Northeast Georgia Council, Chattahoochee Trail Horse Association, Southern Off Road Biking Association and Georgia Appalachian Trail Association.

We love to see photos of your community programs in action! Grant recipients, Master Educators, Trainers, PEAK presentations--many of the Bigfoot Challenges incorporate photo or video elements. Thanks for taking the time to tell us your story. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Southeast Louisiana Camporall

This weekend we celebrated the 100th anniversary of scouting at the Southeast Louisiana Camporall at the Salmen Scout Reservation in MS. Over 3,000 cub scouts and their families were on hand to join in on the festivities. We were there to set up an educational booth where more than 200 people took the Bigfoot Challenge. We also taught the scouts to Trash Their Trash through the activity How Long Does It Last? In addition to the Leave No Trace activities, the scouts took part in rope making, shooting practice, a ropes course, climbing wall, and obstacle courses. We were able to get in on some of the more adult oriented activities, when we were asked to be guest judges at the dutch oven cook-off. YUM-YUM! The weekend ended with an entertaining arena show, including a great fireworks display! It was a fun weekend. A special thanks to Fonnie and Randy for taking care of us all weekend!

Happy Adventuring...Kate and Tracy

Bigfoot's Live!

A couple of months ago, Leave No Trace member and trainer, Dave Titus, emailed us and asked how he could help. An illustrator and animator from the Easter Sierra Nevada Mountains, Dave had seen our Bigfoot campaign and wondered if we wanted to give Bigfoot a little life.

Dave offered to do this Bigfoot short that will soon appear on our website and will be available for partners who want to spread the word about the Bigfoot Challenge. Check it a preview here.

A little about Dave:
In 1994, Dave Titus created the original green Mozilla mascot while working on Netscape’s premier website. Hundreds of his projects are in the books for clients like Nabisco, General Mills, Disney, Mello Smello, Netscape, Better Homes and Gardens, Meredith Books, AAA, Paypal, Cargill, GRAMMY Foundation, Intuit, Specialized, Prevacid, Wall Street Journal, USAopoly, and Gateway. In 2004, he won “Best of Show” in London’s Top 50 Fusion Digital Art Competition.

A little about the Bigfoot Challenge: http://lnt.org/bigfootchallenge/index.php

Team East joins Alabama State Advocate Skip Essman

After a snowy couple of days in Atlanta, GA we traveled down to Prattville, AL, a small town outside of Montgomery, to be guest speakers at a Leave No Trace Trainer Course led by Alabama State Advocate Skip Essman. The course was held at Camp Tuckabatchee, a beautiful scout camp outside of town. We were asked to speak to the nine participants, as well as other Leave No Trace Master Educators and Trainers who were there to assist in instruction, about the Traveling Trainer program and new initiatives launched this year including Leave No Trace Hot Spots and the Bigfoot Challenge. We would like to thank Skip for inviting us to the course and for all his hard work throughout the year as the state advocate! We look forward to working with Skip again on Tuesday, when he will join us at the University of Alabama in Birmingham for an awareness workshop.

Happy Adventuring...Kate and Tracy

Bigfoot Redux

Have you taken the Bigfoot Challenge yet this year? Do it now: http://lnt.org/bigfootchallenge/index.php

The Bigfoot Challenge’s goal is to encourage simple acts of environmental activism and teach Leave No Trace principles. In only a few months last year, we registered over 5,000 people who took the Bigfoot Challenge. This year, Bigfoot plans to enlist over 20,000 people to take the challenge.

Join us because it is not only fun and easy, it’s good for you and it’s good for the environment.

Winter Outdoor Retailer

Outdoor enthusiasts, the latest and greatest gear, and Bigfoot sightings, all mixed up in the chaos that is the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, UT, made for a busy but exciting weekend for the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics!

The Outdoor Retailer Show is a bi-annual event that showcases the newest gear and trends in the outdoor industry. With over 15,000 people in attendance, this show is a great venue for us to share Leave No Trace education. Our best opportunity to reach people is through the Great Gear Giveaway sponsored by Backpacker Magazine and Subaru of America! This year, we had over 500 people take part by testing their Leave No Trace knowledge, as well as taking the Bigfoot Challenge. 18 very happy participants walked away with sweet prize packages that included lots of fabulous gear. Thanks to all the companies that donated products to the Great Gear Giveaway, and to Backpacker Magazine and Subaru of America for sponsoring the event. This was a wonderful kick-off to the 2010 season for the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers!

Safe Travels...Kate and Tracy

Winter Outdoor Retailer, Day 2

Even more pictures from our Bigfoot Photo Booth today:

Complete album can be viewed here.

Winter Outdoor Retailer, Day 1

The Leave No Trace Bigfoot Booth saw lots of activity today as folks flowed through taking the Bigfoot Challenge. As an added bonus, photo opportunities with the Center's own Bigfoot were available. Here are a few shots from the booth this afternoon. Stay tuned for more pictures throughout the weekend!

For the complete album, please visit our Facebook Fan page!

Bigfoot is heading west!

Everyone here at the Center in Boulder are working hard to get ready for the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City later this week. Much to our surprise, we had a special guest come by to get ready as well. Yep, you guessed it, Bigfoot is Back!

Bigfoot had a pleasant hibernation period and now he is rested and ready for another fun-filled year of outreach, awareness and adventure! He will be joining us in Salt Lake City, so be sure to look out for him if you are heading to the show. If you are not going to be at Outdoor Retailer, be sure to check out Bigfoot's web page and take the Bigfoot Challenge! There will be new challenges posted every month and a chance to win some sweet gear from our partners to use on your next outdoor adventure.

Safe travels...Kate and Tracy

My Backyard: Bigfoot's last appearance in 2009...

A fortuitous encounter with “Mr. Bigfoot” motivatied us to practice Leave No Trace sasquatch-style in 2009.

How? The furry guy has asked us to challenge this community to live up to his standards as an environmental activist. By showing your support for Leave No Trace you have the chance to show Bigfoot you’re up to the test. He’s been doing it for years, and so can you!

Per Bigfoot’s request, we are offering a creative way for you to support Leave No Trace before the close of 2009. By donating $15 you will receive some gifts to help warm up the holidays: a limited-edition Bigfoot pint glass (for your favorite holiday beverage) and a warm, cozy hat!

By donating to the cause, you are joining a nationwide conservation movement to help minimize recreation impacts on the outdoors. Show your support and let Bigfoot know you are up to the challenge!


(Hats generously donated through the Gear to Grow program.)

Road Wisdom: Hibernation Sets In...

It’s that time of year again. The season when the leaves fall off the trees, snow starts falling from the skies, and the wildlife begins foraging food for the winter. This is a bittersweet time for the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers as it is the time when we park the Subaru at the Center in Boulder for the remainder of 2009. After nine busy months traveling the country providing education and outreach to hundreds of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts, the traveling trainer teams have closed out the 2009 season.

Along with the traveling trainer teams, Mr. Bigfoot has retired for the season for some much needed rest and hibernation. Bigfoot, too, has been very busy this year challenging folks to take his Bigfoot Challenge. He successfully recruited nearly 5,000 people to challenge themselves to practice Leave No Trace this year. The challenges varied from leading by example by picking trash on a trail, to teaching a child the importance of not feeding wildlife, to practicing leave no trace by walking through the middle of a muddy trail or picking up after your pets. Everyone who took the challenge has been entered to win gear from some of our partners that the big guy himself will be announcing in the next few weeks!

If you did not get a chance to take the Bigfoot Challenge in 2009, not to worry! Bigfoot has told us he will be returning next year for an even bigger and badder challenge for us. Stay tuned for more information…

Happy hibernating and safe travels…

Kate Bullock and Tracy Howard