Compromise Principles?

"Compromise is always wrong if it means sacrificing a principle"

This was the bold statement I found this week from my fortune cookie and it made me think of the Leave No Trace Principles. If principles are the fundamental truths that guide rationale and behavior, then the Leave No Trace principles guide outdoor behavior and the rationale behind it.

Do you believe in the fortune cookie's wisdom? Is it "always" wrong to sacrifice a principle when exploring and playing outdoors? Are there times you have had to sacrifice a Leave No Trace principle?

Why are you passionate about Leave No Trace?

Today on our Facebook page we posed this phrase for our followers to complete: "I am passionate about Leave No Trace because ___________________." I'm inspired by the responses I've read so far and encouraged. I am a Leave No Trace member for exactly this reason - because I am part of a community of people who are passionate about protecting the places we play, and I want others to respect the outdoors too.

We've all seen what happens when people don't, right? Just last week I was hiking and found new foot trails, dog waste in a bag that someone left on the side of the trail, and the seemingly ever-present litter. What can I do in moments like that? It makes me proud to belong to Leave No Trace. I believe that the more people understand the Leave No Trace ethics, the longer our open spaces will be preserved.

Why are you passionate about Leave No Trace?

Newness

Newness is the word to describe the last two weeks as a brand-new staff member with the Center. I’m new to Boulder, Colorado - my family and I just moved from Southern California. I’m new to the depth of knowledge here at the Center - even though I practice the principles as a hiker, camper and trail runner, I still have so much to learn about the science behind the principles.

And I’m new to all of you.

I spent some time today studying the membership survey the Center conducted last year. Since my role as Development Director with the Center is to work with our members, donors and followers, I am eager to learn, who is a Leave No Trace Member? You may be surprised to know that most members live in California (which makes me proud). And the #1 reason that folks are members is the satisfaction that we are furthering our essential role in spreading Leave No Trace.

Aside from the great feeling of supporting the mission, there are great tangible benefits to being a member too. Did you know that the Center’s corporate partners extend their thanks to each member for supporting Leave No Trace? You can get member discounts on Coleman gear, Packit Gourmet (yum) and even a discount on a new Subaru!

Are you a member yet? Take a moment to join or renew your membership. As a member you join me and thousands of others across the world who commit to live Leave No Trace.

Wildlife Sightings

Enjoy this beautiful photograph of a white wolf submitted to our Membership Department.

The observers where enjoying a tranquil Alaskan evening when the wolf approached close enough to take a photograph and some video. After spending a few moments posing for the camera, the wolf safely moved on and the two individual were left with a unique memory.

Just a wonderful reminder of the benefits of always having a camera with you and letting the sounds of nature prevail. You get to enjoy unique (and safe) wildlife encounters such as the one depicted in this photo. What's your favorite or most unique wildlife sighting?

Safe Travels of the Non-Motorized Kind

Hope you are enjoying the holidays and this season of traveling via planes, trains and automobiles. If you are lucky enough to do some non-motorized traveling - walking through a snowy park, snowshoeing on a nature trail or gliding down a mountain - be sure to keep leave no trace practices in mind wherever your destination may be.

Winter conditions can be extreme so planning a preparing for your outing will ensure a safe and fun trip.

What is now a beautiful landscape of snow might become a flowing stream or important water source come springtime, so knowing the landscape, staying on designated trails if possible and packing out trash will help maintain a healthy ecosystem.

Winter can also be a vulnerable time for wild animals, so being extra careful to respect wildlife and maintaining a safe distance will ensure their safety and yours too.

And, as always, practicing leave no trace keeps open spaces accessible for years to come, so here's to fun, safe and responsible recreation in 2010. Happy New Year!

Road Wisdom: Our National Parks

So, this is the type of Road Wisdom that we would usually come up with as the busy summer season approaches. However, recently we have been fortunate enough to spend a good amount of time in some of our National Parks, which are still very busy. So here goes.

Whether it’s the Ken Burns documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, people trying to save a few bucks by going outdoors for vacation, or President Obama sightings at the Grand Canyon, National Parks have been reporting increased visits across the country. The reports for the first half alone of 2009 showed that National Park visits had increased by 4.5 million. This is great news for the parks and great news for those concerned about ‘nature deficit disorder’.

So, in honor of America’s Best Idea, we wanted to offer a few reminders to all National Park visitors. These were some of the most common impacts (in no particular order) to our Parks that can be easily fixed by us, the visitors:

• Trash – When visiting the Parks be ready to pack your trash out to the nearest trash cans or recycling bins.
• Pets – Check the Park regulations about leash requirements and be prepared to pick up after them.
• Wildlife – Feeding wildlife can not only hurt them, but could hurt you as well.
• Speeding – Speeding kills numerous animals every year in our Parks, over 20 bears have been killed in Yosemite National Park alone in 2009 by speeding vehicles.
• Trail etiquette – Remember, hikers always yield to pack animals and bikers always yield to hikers and pack animals.
  

See ya out there,

JD & Emily
Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers

Teachable Moments: Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

Our "Dear Education Department" this month references the Leave No Trace principle, Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces. How can you teach people about durable surfaces? Here are some tips:

• Define "Durable." Durable surfaces are those that are both resistant (won’t show much impact when people hike or camp on them) and resilient (will recover quickly). If you find that that this principle isn’t resonating as much with your audience try the frountcountry or kids versions: Stick to Trails and/or Choose the Right Path
• Get Visual. If you are outside, have people choose different natural objects from the trail/ground and create a “durable surface spectrum.”
• Play “Surface Hopscotch.” Create a fictional trail and ask participants to get from one end to the other using only durable surfaces (represented in words or photographs on various cards). For more information about this, check out our new Teen Program webpage.
  

Thanks for your support of Leave No Trace and Happy Trails!

Photo caption: Trainer Course participants create a durable surface spectrum out of natural object.

Urban Ethics

Good morning!

Yesterday, my coworker Catherine and I met with Denver Parks and Recreation. They are interested in incorporating Leave No Trace district wide into their Ranger Program. These urban Park Rangers patrol acres of green space attached to schools, neighborhoods and commercial areas. Needless to say, there is a lot of recreation and visitation happening.

Urban green spaces present their own unique set of human created impacts and issues. We've been asked many times if Leave No Trace has ever created or adapted the seven principles for a more urban environment. I've seen a few examples but would love to hear what you think! Here are the current backcountry and frontcountry principles (representing both Wilderness and day-use areas):

How would you adapt these even further? Or would you?

Plan Ahead and Prepare or Know Before You Go
Travel and Camp On Durable Surfaces or Choose the Right Path
Dispose of Waste Properly or Trash Your Trash
Leave What You Find or Leave it as you Find It
Minimize Campfire Impacts or Be Careful with Fire
Respect Wildlife or Keep Wildlife Wild
Be Considerate of Other Visitors or Share the Trail

How do you make a city disappear?

It's that time of year again when we are reminded of what Leave No Trace can look like on a larger-than-life scale... the creation, and then ultimate disappearance, of Black Rock City. In the desert of Nevada for just over a week, close to 50,000 people will build their home in this city for the annual art festival, Burning Man, and then collectively see to it that the city vanishes until next year.

Having one year of attendance under my belt, I'm looking forward to being a bit more of an expert this year - not just with costumes, but with my Leave No Trace systems while living in the desert. As I plan ahead and prepare, I've been amazed at the depth of knowledge being disseminated from the Burning Man officials to the entire community, to raise awareness of how to Leave No Trace.

Even if you're not attending this festival, I would highly suggest taking a few moments to check out some of the great things that Burning Man is doing to Leave No Trace at their festival. A few minutes on the Earth Guardian site will do nothing short of inspire you to Leave No Trace the next time you go to any festival or event. Be sure to check out the "Sample LNT Plan" and "LNT Model Camp Tour" under the "Burning LNT" tab, as well as the Leave No Trace practices for water, fire, air, earth and ether.

Pictures to come in just a couple of weeks... Stay tuned!

The Story of Lost Lake

Good morning!

I wanted to relay a story from this past weekend that I thought we may all relate to and see what you all think...We all wear many different hats - employee, supervisor, parent, spouse, recreationist - and it's alway interesting to see how and when these different parts of our life intertwine.

Last weekend, I went camping at Lost Lake, just outside of the Indian Peaks Wilderness in Colorado. Lost Lake is a very popular hiking and camping spot, only 1.5 miles in from a trailhead that is frequented by people from Denver and Boulder.

There are designated campsites around the lake, but you do not need a permit to camp there; though you do for the surrounding Wilderness area. Our intention was to camp at the lake, but, knowing it was first come -first served, we got a permit anyway, in case we had to hike further up the trail.

Wanting to get an early start, we set off in the morning and were at the lake in plenty of time to have our pick of a few different sites. Good thing we did! As the morning turned into the afternoon, the lake quickly became populated with other hikers and backpackers. Even though the sites filled up, that did not stop the influx of people wanting to camp. The lake contains 9 designated campsites, in my estimation there were 10-12 groups there, a couple that were right next to the water and the trail. In addition, I counted 3 addition fire rings in the woods behind our site, places where others had camped in the past.

Overuse of the resource is clearly an issue at this spot, as there were signs posted everywhere for areas the were being revegetated, a couple of them right along a social trail out to a cool rock outcropping.

This situation reminded me of the Authority of the Resource Technique (ART), which emphasizes the use of "education" instead of "regulation" and using the "voice" of the natural resource (not the authority figure) to promote conservation.

This weekend I was just a person enjoying the outdoors, not necessarily a spokesperson for the Center for Outdoor Ethics. What would you have done in this situation? Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted to say something, but didn't? Or maybe you said something...what the outcome positive or negative? What did you learn?

Thanks for your thoughts! Email me if you want a copy of that article.

Sarah

Take time to stop and smell the wildflowers...

Hello all-

Thanks to everyone that participated in our most recent poll! To refresh your memory, the question was:

"You're hiking on a trail through a wet meadow filled with beautiful wildflowers. Your best option is to..."

The answer, with 93% of the votes was C: "Stop and smell the flowers, smile and take home a picture instead." While this may not have been the most difficult of the poll questions thus far, it certainly can spark the most discussion.

Outdoor trips with family and friends can create a lifetime of memories and, understandably, people want to take a memento with them. The issue is never one person picking a wildflower, it's the thousands (maybe millions) of people in front or behind them that all take one flower. Leave No Trace science and research examines the cumulative effects of visitors on public lands, of which trail impacts is one.

So, no matter how you say it...

Leave What You Find
Take only Pictures, Leave Only Footprints
Leave It Better than You Found it

...enjoying objects in their natural element will leave the most lasting impression and also the least impact.

Now, for a special trivia question that also coincides with Leave What You Find. Feel free to leave your guesses as comments and I'll respond in the next few days

"In nature, it takes about 5 hours 45 minutes to make an average _____..."

Trip Planning 101

Hello all!

Thanks again for those who participated in this week's poll.

The question was: "When planning your food supply, you should..."

The answer with the most votes was also the correct answer (nice job!) or B: "Re-pack dried or freeze-dried food into lightweight plastic bags."

What's the rationale? Repackaging food helps you conserve space and minimize waste when you are on an outdoor trip. Many food products come with several layers of packaging (a plastic bag, a cardboard box) and by repackaging, or taking out a layer, you'll free up more space for other gear and you'll have less trash to pack out.

The other choices brought up some interesting points. Stuff sacks are great for food storage and bear hangs. Containers that minimize food smells are especially important at your campsite, to avoid attracting wildlife, as well as to properly store food. Fresh foods may be okay for a short trip, but they can add weight, and trash if they spoil, so make sure you use these items first.

For more information about planning for trip, check out the Leave No Trace principle Plan Ahead and Prepare on our website.

Poll Answer: Dirty Dishwater

Thanks to everyone who participated in our most recent poll:

What is the best way to dispose of dirty dishwater while camping?

Over 80% of the participants chose "B: Strain Out Particles and Scatter the Dishwater", which was the correct answer! In our last poll we discussed wildlife habituation, one of the causes being access to human food.

Even the little bits of pasta left in dishwater can be enough to attract wildlife, so straining out those particles (and treating them as trash you'd pack out) is the best practice. You can be creative about straining too; an actual strainer is great, but pantyhose, bandanas and socks have been known to do the trick as well.

Scattering is important because of the element of dispersal. The left over water is sure to carry some food smells, so dispersing it is preferred, as opposed to concentrating it in one place.

A number of poll participants chose A: "Use it to put out your campfire." While the intention is great (always make sure to put out your campfire), again, the concentration of all those food smells in the middle of a campsite will attract wildlife, which starts that process of habituation.

Thanks again for following our blog poll! Stay tuned for another question in the coming weeks.