California Teen Teaches Leave No Trace

California teenager, Amy Chapman, is an avid backpacker and Leave No Trace Trainer. She was introduced to Leave No Trace by her father, and her environmental sensibilities led her into a teaching role. She now teaches Leave No Trace to youth and adults through the Boy Scouts’ Woodbadge program. Learn more about Amy in next month’s Leave No Trace eNews.

Leave No Trace Trainer Course :: Comanche Peak Wilderness Area

This past weekend Sarah Folzenlogen, Education Programs Coordinator, and I (Catherine Smith - Community and Partnership Coordinator), had the pleasure of co-leading a 2-day Leave No Trace Trainer Course in the beautiful Comanche Peak Wilderness.  Despite quite a bit of rain, we enjoyed a full weekend of both teaching and learning about Leave No Trace.  There were plenty of teachable moments throughout the course, with a great deal of valuable discussion.  We had a phenomenal group of folks, and were proud to call them Leave No Trace Trainers upon completion of the course.

Here's a quick video of the fun you can have after a day of rain!

Upcoming Colorado Trainer Course

LEAVE NO TRACE TRAINER COURSE | COMANCHE PEAK WILDERNESS AREA, CO

When: Saturday, May 30 – Sunday, May 31

Where: Comanche Peak Wilderness Area, CO

Who: Adults (18+) with some camping and/or backpacking experience.

Description: Offered by Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics staff, this open-enrollment Trainer Course is designed to enhance your understanding of Leave No Trace ethics and to increase your level of expertise and confidence in teaching Leave No Trace skills. Through focused activities, hands-on field experience and both formal and informal discussions, you will be introduced to concepts and methods that will advance your knowledge of Leave No Trace issues, expand your repertoire of low-impact techniques and increase your effectiveness in teaching these important skills to others. Participants should be experienced campers or backpackers and be prepared to backpack up to 2 miles. Instruction will concentrate on the incorporation of low impact techniques in camping and backpacking settings, but we will not be teaching basic camping skills.

Gear: Personal backpacking gear. All group gear, such as stoves, cooking equipment and water treatment will be supplied. Participants should pack a trail lunch for Saturday; all other meals will be provided. At the time of registration participants will receive a planning packet that will include a detailed packing list.

Instructors: Leave No Trace Master Educators Sarah Folzenlogen and Catherine Smith.

Cost: $65.00 The cost covers course materials and meals with the exception of lunch for Saturday (supplied by participant).

Contact: For more information and a registration form please contact Sarah Folzenlogen at sarah@LNT.org.

Montenegro

Recently Education Director Ben Lawhon and I had to the opportunity to travel to Montenegro in Eastern Europe to teach a Master Educator Course and a Trainer Course. We were invited to teach these Leave No Trace courses by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Black Mountain Adventure Travel. It was an awesome experience and a wonderful opportunity to enlarge our community through international training efforts. I would like to thank Jack and Hayley Delf, owners of Black Mountain Adventure Travel for all of their organization, hard work, passion and hospitality. The two of you made our trip very easy!

We had 12 participants on the Master Course and 10 participants on the Trainer Course. Participants included members of mountaineering clubs, tourism agencies, university professors in tourism, the National Tourism Organization in Montenegro, the National Park Service, staff from the UNDP, mountain bike association members and guides. We spent three nights at three different campsites during the Master Course and had an opportunity to hike to a mountain hut run by one of the local mountain clubs on the last night of the course where we had a wonderful feast for the last nights dinner. See the pictures below.

Our time was spent in the Southwest corner of Montenegro in a town called Herceg Novi. The courses took place on Mt. Orjen. The landscape is beautiful. You can start your day on the water near tropical plants in Herceg Novi, on the Adriatic Sea and within a short 30 minute drive up a windy road you are in the mountains amongst all the fall foliage. We had amazing weather too, the entire trip, it was 70 degrees during the day and around 40 at night with clear skies and the full moon’s glow. Must be because Ben bought new rain gear for this trip, since he seems to always get rained on when he teaches course. Thanks Ben!

Many of the course participants stated that they would like to reach the youth of Montenegro with Leave No Trace information during their action plans as they are the future of the outdoor recreation movement. Participants hope to incorporate Leave No Trace into their existing programs and to take the information to the youth so that they can create a connection to the outdoors and so they can teach their families. We look forward to hearing from everyone involved in these courses and know that they will all be great advocates for Leave No Trace.
Congratulations to all who successfully completed this course. We appreciated your enthusiasm for Leave No Trace and for creating an outdoor ethic in Montenegro!

Leave No Trace Education in Montenegro

Leave No Trace professional staff  Ben Lawhon (Education Director) and Dave Winter (Outreach Manager) are currently in Montenegro (see picture below for geographic reference) teaching a Master Educator Course and a Trainer Course.  
Here is a brief account of their latest adventure (after leading a 5 day Master Educator Course and before teaching a 2 day Trainer Course):

Took a bus to the town of Kotor. It’s centuries old and is an amazingly beautiful place. Some of the chapels in the town date back to the 13th century and it’s situated on the only fjord in the Balkans. It is protected by the U.N. as a world heritage site, of which there are only a handful in the world. The walled city was a fun place to wander but the hike up to St. John’s chapel was definitely the best part. It was a one mile hike with a 1000 ft elevation gain. Lots of steep steps but well worth the effort. The views from the top were incredible.

Here are some pictures from their Master Educator Course and their day in Kotor.  Enjoy!

Leave No Trace 2008 PowerPoint Available Online!

The slideshow is available for download here!

Leave No Trace Trainer Course with Rocky Mountain Youth Corps

This past weekend I had the pleasure of co-instructing a Leave No Trace Trainer Course with the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Senior Team, JD Tanner and Emily Ressler.  Over the two day course, we worked with Crew Leaders and employees of the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, in Taos, NM.  

We had a great course in Carson National Forest, enduring some significant rain, learning how to teach Leave No Trace skills and ethics and, of course, having fun.  If you're an educator, youth leader, Boy Scout/Girl Scout leader, or just curious to learn more about Leave No Trace and how to teach others, I encourage you to learn more about the Trainer Course here.

Leave No Trace Course in Ireland

From Leave No Trace Ireland:

The second ever Leave No Trace Master Educator course was delivered by Ben Lawhon, (Education Director for the Leave No Trace Centre for Outdoor Ethics in Boulder, Colorado) from 16th to 20th June 08 in the Glendasan Valley, Glendalough, Co. Wicklow.

This course is the highest level of Leave No Trace training and teaches participants the “hard skills” like appropriate human waste disposal, good campsite selection and management as well as the “soft skills” - these are the more ethical side of the message dealing with issues like behaviour around wildlife, disturbance of natural and cultural items, social impacts. The course also aims to teach participants how to teach the Leave No Trace message themselves in a non-judgmental, non-sanctimonious way and provides teaching tips to help teach the subject in a participatory, engaging way.

The course started off with an introduction to Leave No Trace and how it originated, mountainous and coastal environments were visited to explore the different impacts on different environments and the key principles were explored and discussed.

The course trained up 9 instructors in Leave No Trace who can now pass the message on through their own work within organisations / training schemes. These aspirant instructors offer Leave No Trace Training courses and awareness sessions and train up others in the Leave No Trace education programme.

Ben Lawhon commented on the course, “On my second trip to Ireland to offer a Leave No Trace Master Educator course, I was greeted with the same level of enthusiasm and excitement for the program that I was on my first visit in 2006. What made the course particularly unique is that there is now a Leave No Trace organization in Ireland that is working to promote outdoor ethics in the country, something that wasn’t yet up and running on my last visit. By having Leave No Trace Ireland, Master Educators and Trainers now have the support they need to offer education, outreach and training in order to help people understand how they can enjoy the outdoors responsibly.

The recent course was excellent and involved a great group of educators who are excited about Leave No Trace and who now possess the skills and knowledge necessary to spread Leave No Trace information effectively. With nine new Master Educators in Ireland, the training capacity has increased substantially, which means that more and more Trainer courses and Awareness sessions can be facilitated. I’m confident that all course participants have the desire to get the word out about Leave No Trace and are poised to make a significant difference in the protection of Ireland’s landscape.

I feel honored to have had the opportunity to come to Ireland to work with such a dedicated group of people who want to see the program succeed. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Ireland and hope that our collective efforts will benefit all those who enjoy the out-of-doors. I am particularly proud to have been a part of helping to get Leave No Trace Ireland off the ground and look forward to seeing the program grow over the coming years.”