Mount Rainier Hot Spot Success

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics recently completed work at Mount Rainier National Park’s Paradise Area, a 2011 Leave No Trace-designated “Hot Spot.” Located in Washington, Mount Rainier National Park receives up to two-million visitors a year. At Paradise, the most heavily visited area of the park containing 26 miles of trails, recreation-related impacts have been severe. Miles of additional social trails and damage to subalpine meadows caused by off-trail travel have resulted.

In partnership with the National Park Service, the Center implemented a multifaceted education program to mitigate these impacts. The Center provided Leave No Trace training for key park service staff and over 50 volunteers, developed Paradise-specific Leave No Trace information, created Leave No Trace signage for visitors, and provided consultation on best management practices for minimizing recreation-related impacts. The Center also hosted three Seattle-based events to involve the local community and raise awareness about the initiative.

“The adoption of Leave No Trace at the park will play an active role in preserving it for generations to come. We are very proud of this important work with the National Park Service,” says Dana Watts, Executive Director for the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics.

In its second year, the Leave No Trace Hot Spots initiative raises awareness about natural areas around the country facing the threat of irreversible environmental damage. As part of the initiative, the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics works with volunteers, nonprofit organizations, friends groups and governmental agencies to reduce the impact of recreational activities in the selected endangered area. This goal is achieved through community outreach, education, training, signage, educational materials and local collaboration.

For more information on the 2011 Hot Spots initiative, as well as ways to get involved, visit http://www.lnt.org/01_community/hotspots.php.

Leave No Trace in Washington State

Backyard Session at the Seattle Mountaineers June 27th

Bigfoot made a visit to say hello to Washington Leave No Trace supporters!

Last week in Seattle, volunteers, activists, partners and staff joined together for two

Leave No Trace

Backyard Sessions. Outreach Manager Dave Winter, Education Programs Manager Sarah Folzenlogen, and Washington State Advocate Jon Wilmot led the events. These evening sessions provided an important opportunity to network with over 50 existing Master Educators, Trainers, members and partners. Leave No Trace Partners from Seattle (Cascade Designs, Outdoor Research, myscenicedrives.com, Eddie Bauer, The Mountaineers, Washington Water Trails Association) set up small displays and provided giveaways for those in attendance. Attendees were encouraged to get involved and were introduced to some new volunteer opportunities within Mount Rainier National Park this summer.

The park service has three great opportunities for you to get involved if you live in the Seattle area. Mount Rainier National Park is looking for over 40 volunteers to help with routing trails through the snow at Paradise, assisting the revegetation crews with planting and with outreach during the Keep Wild Life Wild weekend in August. If you are interested in any of these volunteer opportunities please email Dave@LNT.org.

Washington Volunteer State Advocate Jon Wilmot was pleased

to meet many new key volunteers, including

Rangers from the park and to

learn more about the Centers work with Mt Rainier

. Jon is planning on building on these two sessions and is looking forward to hosting a Leave No Trace Backyard Session this summer in his hometown of Spokane Washington.

These two sessions provided the following updates on the Centers work so far with Mt. Rainier in 2011.

Mt. Rainier National Park Hot Spot Update– The Center has been working with staff from the National Park Service (NPS) on strategies for minimizing recreation-related impacts in the Paradise area of the Park. In consultation with NPS staff, the Center will provide the following services for the Park (some of this work is already underway):

1. Provide training for key park staff and volunteers. Center staff provided Leave No Trace training for both existing and new volunteers, known as Meadow Rovers, at the Park on June 25th and 26th. Theses trainings aimed at better integrating Leave No Trace into the work of the Meadow Rovers. Both trainings had over 40 attendees who left the training with new tools to effectively disseminating Leave No Trace information to park visitors.
2. Provide expert review of the situation at Paradise. Center staff enlisted the expertise of leading recreation ecologists and protected area managers to provide input and advise for strategies on minimizing the recreation-related impacts at Paradise. These experts reviewed the situation at the Park and provided consultation on both direct and indirect management actions that could minimize and/or mitigate the damage from off-trail hiking.

3. Draft recommendations and language for signage to be placed in the Paradise area to help keep visitors on trails and off the fragile meadows found in the area. Center staff drafted a comprehensive suite of recommendations for Park managers, from which managers can make better-informed decisions based on new research for dealing with the impacts at Paradise.

4. The Center will provide funding for the production of signage for use in the Paradise area in order to keep visitors on designated trails.

5. Generate significant media coverage. The Center has distributed two national press releases about Mt. Rainier’s Hot Spot designation, which have been run by over a dozen newspapers in western Washington and other print media outlets. Additionally, the Center will leverage its social media network of over 75,000 individuals to further raise awareness about Paradise.

Meadow Rovers discuss ethics and how they can help visitors build their own outdoor ethic.

Mount Rainier Trainer Course

Mount Rainier National Park, WA.

Mount Rainier was designated as the 5th National Park on March 2nd, 1899. The mountain's majestic allure beckons nearly 12,000 people yearly to attempt summiting the 14,410 foot peak. Of all who venture up the rugged glacial terrain, only half experience the exhilaration of success.

This weekend, Team West trained eight of Mount Rainier National Park's Climbing Rangers and two Park Rangers that patrol the most visited area of the park, Paradise. The course highlighted the Authority of the Resource Technique, created by George Wallace, which is a non-confrontational way of approaching visitors that are exhibiting "less than Leave No Trace" behaviors. Through role play and real-life scenarios, the rangers learned the importance of explaining the consequences of these undesirable behaviors to the visitors they encounter, in order to elicit positive behavior change.

The rangers at Mount Rainier work in a fragile alpine ecosystem that requires respect and knowledge of the environment in order to minimize potential impacts on the land. Hats off to our new ranger friends! We wish you a safe and healthy season.

Explore Responsibly...Kate & Tracy

First Seattle Backyard Session a Success

April 18, 2011, Seattle, WA: The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics conducted a Backyard Session in Seattle, Washington to discuss this year’s Hot Spot at Mount Rainier National Park’s Paradise Area. Mount Rainier National Park rangers, Jordan Mammel and Christine Czazasty, presented an overview of impacts related to recreation at the popular Paradise area within Mount Rainier National Park. Mount Rainier stands as an icon of the Pacific Northwest and it was evident that there is incredible enthusiasm around Mount Rainier and Leave No Trace Programs within the Seattle area. Dave Winter, Leave No Trace’s Outreach Manager, moderated the discussion and lunch held at Seattle’s downtown REI store.

Along with representative from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, individual members, board member and Mount Rainier National Park, participants included representatives from Cascade Designs, Outdoor Research, Eddie Bauer, REI, Groundspeak, Washington Trails Association, The Student Conservation Association, Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated, My Scenic Drives.com, and The Mountaineers.

The next Seattle Backyard Session will be held in June:

June 27th at The Mountaineers Program Center in Seattle, 7-9pm
June 28th at The Seattle REI Flagship Store, 6:30-8pm

If you live in the Seattle area, we would like to invite you to join area educators, partners, volunteers and members to sign up for volunteer opportunities at Mount Rainier National Park, learn about upcoming Leave No Trace trainings in the area and discuss all things Leave No Trace for your community.

About Backyard Sessions
Backyard Sessions encourage Leave No Trace community activism and create a platform for training, environmental youth programs and Leave No Trace–based stewardship activities. Through the Backyard Session program, like-minded people gather together in local communities across the country for fun, social and interactive events to learn how to incorporate Leave No Trace where they live and play. Learn more or bring a Backyard Session to your community at Backyard Sessions.