Road Wisdom: Geocaching

According to geocache.com, “Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.”

Currently there are over 1 million registered caches worldwide! As we travel the country, teaching the skills and ethics of Leave No Trace, we encounter many different schools of thought on this up-and-coming activity, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.

Some people feel strongly that geocaching bridges the gap for people that enjoy technological activities with being on an outdoor adventure in a natural setting. Other people feel that some geocachers miss a majority of the outdoor experience because they are so focused on the technology piece that they are driven into the wilderness only to put all of their energy into finding the coordinates. Yet another group feels that geocaching brings individuals and families together by getting them out of their living rooms and into the great outdoors. What is your opinion?

Regardless of each person’s motive to join the geocache movement, Leave No Trace has developed a reference hang tag (available in our online store) to promote responsible recreation practices while geocaching. Here are some points to consider:

• Plan properly for your geocaching outing by having the items or equipment you'll need to safely enjoy your adventure. Also, if placing a cache, make sure it's legal in your area.
• Be conscious of where caches are placed (choose durable surfaces) and think about how traveling to and from a cache can cause trampling, erosion, etc.
• Have the necessary knowledge/equipment to deal with trash, litter and human waste.
• Consider the impacts of geocaching to both plants and animals.
• Be mindful of other visitors who may also be enjoying the same areas as you.
  

If you would like to weigh in on your opinion of geocaching, email kateandtracy@lnt.org and we will post comments on an upcoming blog!

Happy Geocaching,
Kate and Tracy

National Get Outdoors Day - Get Involved!

With the beginning of Spring, many cities around the country have begun planning for the third annual National Get Outdoors Day event on June 12, 2010.

Denver has been a leader in hosting this event and drew thousands of children and families last year for a day full of fishing, hands-on activities, adventure sports and recreation in City Park.

It was piloted in over 100 cities in 2008, many of which have continued to participate and expand upon their local event. Most Get Outdoors Day events are actively seeking volunteers to help plan logistics, direct people on event day, set-up and and break down the event, staff booths and so on. To volunteer, check out the locations page on the National Get Outdoors Day website to find out the location nearest you.

The event has many local sponsors, but is nationally supported by the USDA Forest Service and the American Recreation Coalition.

This year the Center will be participating in the the local Denver event and partnering with a previous Connect Grant recipient, Big City Mountaineers as well as working with the Colorado State Advocate for Leave No Trace.

The Traveling Trainer teams will also be participating in a National Get Outdoors Day event in Washington state.

Check out the interpretive trail activity that the e-tour did last summer. It's available for download on the PEAK page.

2010 Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Season is getting set to Kick Off!

On Monday we began our annual Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Training for our 2010 teams. We are lucky to have Kate Bullock and Tracy Howard returning for their third season on the road, starting their year as our Team East. Check out their schedule so far.

We are also very excited to have a new pair, Jason and Agata Ketterick, joining us for our 12th year of the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Program as Team West. You can take a look to see if they will be coming to your area in the coming months by clicking here.

Both teams will be attending the Outdoor Retailer trade show next week in Salt Lake City, and then will be back here for another week and a half of training before they hit the road for the season in early February. If you are interested in hosting the Traveling Trainers this year, please request a visit online.

Kate and Tracy, are excited for you to meet Bigfoot!

Jason and Agata on top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine last June.

TVA Trainer Course

Here are some photos of a Trainer Course we recently completed with one of our new partners, Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA has 290,000 acres of land that offer many recreational opportunities, including water skiing, canoeing, sailing, windsurfing, fishing, swimming, hiking, nature photography, picnicking, birdwatching, and camping. We had lots of fun on this course and were excited to meet and work with all the staff at TVA.

See you out there,

JD and Emily, Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers (Team East)

Robert Miller :: Guest Blogger

Kate Bullock and Tracy Howard are Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers and you can follow them around the country on their Traveling Trainers blog. On Wednesday February 11th in Fort Collins, Colorado, I had the pleasure of attending one of their two hour Leave No Trace Awareness Workshops as part of my ongoing Volunteer Naturalist training. The primary message of the workshop was that it is vital for every person to understand the combined effect that millions of people can have on our natural resources and, thus, spreading the message of outdoor ethics is an invaluable activity. The following are Leave No Trace suggestions that I become aware of during the awareness workshop:

• Backcountry camp fires - When backcountry camping, it is advocated to check with a park ranger or local land manager concerning where it is preferred to start a camp fire because existing camp fire circles may have been incorrectly created and building a new camp fire circle can be harmful to the local ecosystem.
  
• Leave what you find - Picking up rocks, harvesting flowers, or other items in nature diminishes their significance. In other words, rocks (e.g., Tipi rings), plants, and other natural objects are more powerful in nature than they are in your house.
• Durable surfaces - A durable surface is any surface that is impervious to footprints (e.g., dry grass, deep snow, rock). For the purpose of leaving as little trace as possible, it is advocated to bike, hike, and camp on durable surfaces. Cryptobiotic soil, found in the deserts of the Colorado Plateau, is the opposite of a durable surface because it is a living soil crust that takes up to 50 years to mature and, if destroyed, causes the land to be vulnerable to dust storms and water erosion.
• Hiking spread out vs single file - It is appropriate to hike in single file line while on designated trails. However, if your group needs to hike off trail it is prescribed to spread out laterally because a sizable group that hikes in single file line off-trail can create the appearance of a new trail. Unintentionally creating the appearance of a new trail increases the probability that a subsequent group of hikers will think it is a designated trail which can lead to further expansion of unplanned trails. Unplanned trails can have a negative impact on the local ecosystem.

Robert Miller is a volunteer trail naturalist for Larimer County and blog writer for Guide to Colorado Trails. He is co-founder of Two Knobby Tires; an online store for outdoor gear that strives to promote a healthy, active, and eco-friendly lifestyle for hikers, cyclists, skiers, recreational families, and pet owners.

Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Trainer Course

This week we headed to Mansfield, Georgia for a Leave No Trace Trainer Course at Charlie Elliot Wildlife Center. Managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources this 6,400-acre area offers many recreational opportunities including hiking, fishing, hunting, and several educational programs. Here are some photos from the course.

See you out there,
JD and Emily - Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers (Team East)

Happy New Year!!!

We’re ba-ack! After a six-week hiatus, we are excited to be back in the Subaru traveling around the United States for Leave No Trace. This year promises to be an exciting year for Leave No Trace as well as the Traveling Trainer Program.

We hit the ground running by taking part in our annual Master Educator Course Provider Meeting in Boulder, Colorado this morning. In addition to getting updates, we were excited to hear about all of the Master Educator Courses that will be provided in 2009. The Master Educator Course is a great way to gain in-depth information on Leave No Trace skills and ethics and to learn how to communicate Leave No Trace to others. Did we mention that there are scholarships available for theses courses?

Check back soon to hear about our new Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Team, our 10-Year Anniversary Celebration, and Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.

Hope your 2009 is off to a great start!

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.

Guest Blog: Off to a Sunny Start!

What do get when you have 8 sea kayakers, 4 Master Educators, and 2 days of beautiful weather? The Washington Water Trails Association 5th annual sea kayaking Trainer Course! Held June 14-15, the course was a wealth of Leave No Trace information, role-playing (how exactly should you “Be Considerate to Others” when they took the available campsites?), and laughter. We paddled from Vashon Island, just off the coast of Seattle, WA, over to Blake Island and then around Blake to return to Vashon. We shared Blake Island with 20 Boy Scouts, 30 motor boaters, and numerous hungry raccoons; a perfect opportunity to practice Authority of the Resource Technique, Dispose of Waste Properly, and Respect Wildlife.

The Trainer Course was also the beginning of the summer work for Washington Water Trails Sound Education and Action (SEA) Kayaker Team. The SEA Team spends Friday-Monday paddling throughout Puget Sound educating folks about Washington Water Trails and how they can practice Leave No Trace while they are exploring the Sound. Washington Water Trails Association is a non-profit partner with the Center and in a unique melding of organizations this year’s SEA Team consists of North Moench and Ella Goodbrod, Traveling Trainers from 2006-2007!

If you are going to be paddling in Washington this summer be sure to check us out and look for future guest blogs about our exploration and adventure in Puget Sound.

--Ella Goodbrod & North Moench, Washington Water Trails Sound Education and Action (SEA) Kayaker Team and former Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers.

National Geographic Maps Develops Software to Track the Traveling Teams

A couple of days ago, my colleague Sara Close and I visited National Geographic Maps, the mapmaking arm of National Geographic and a longstanding partner of Leave No Trace. While National Geographic’s headquarters is housed just blocks from the White House in Washington D.C., the Maps division runs its operation among the elk and evergreens at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. National Geographic Maps was established as a division of the National Geographic Society in 1915 and has been producing maps for National Geographic magazine and other Society groups for more than 90 years. National Geographic Maps produces TOPO! outdoor recreation mapping software, Trails Illustrated maps and software, globes, wall maps, travel maps and atlases, and professional software.
This year, National Geographic Maps is working with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics to map the progress of the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers. To check it out visit: http://www.topo.com/explore.