Resources for Outdoor Recreation

With summertime recreation in full swing, it's exciting to see the variety of resources available to support outdoor programs, specifically those focused on youth. The Center offers a number of successful programs that promote responsible recreation to all ages and recreation groups.

PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids) is a great resource for educators, providing kid-friendly activities to teach the principles of Leave No Trace. The e-tour is on the road, conducting fun, family-friendly workshops and presentations. Finally, the Center's Grants and Scholarships help support local initiative programs and training that educate the public about Leave No Trace.

In 2010, the Center received a generation donation from Gear to Grow, a non-profit program that acquires donated gear - such as backpacks - from outdoor retailers and manufacturers and places them into the hands of non-profits that promote outdoor recreation. Gear to Grow has also worked with several of the Center's grant recipients, including: Big City Mountaineers and cityWILD.

This year, Gear to Grow will be hosting a gear-drive at this year’s Outdoor Retailer Summer Market August 4-7.INVISTA’s CORDURA® brand booth (#38213) will serve as the official collection site for Gear to Grow’s Summer Market gear-drive. Exhibitors are encouraged to participate by dropping off surplus samples and equipment at the CORDURA® brand booth (#38213) during show hours. Additionally, exhibitors can ship donations prior to the show along with gear they plan to exhibit.

If you are at the show, support this great initiative and let other know about this available resource. For more information, email: contact@geartogrow.org.

Dog Days of Winter

With winter weather affecting much of the US this past week, hope you are finding some time to enjoy the snow as much as these guys:

Aside from braving the chill, going out for a winter walk, sled or ski can be very peaceful, relaxing and fun. Remember to extend the same set of practices as you would on a summer outing - be it picking up after your pet, planning ahead for extreme weather or sticking to designated trails/areas.

If winter is prime season for your outdoor programming, consider incorporating a short talk/discussion on Leave No Trace for the winter. Grant season is upon us as well, check out this program page on our website for updated deadlines, beginning as early as March 1. Grants can be used to purchase educational/teaching resources for Leave No Trace programming: Grants and Scholarships

Stay warm and safe and thank you for practicing responsible recreation!

"Green" Exercise Improves Health

I recently came across this short article, which described how not only exercise, but "green" exercise (in a park, along a trail, by a lake) improves both physical and mental health. Here is a short excerpt from the article:

"The research focused on many different outdoor activities -- such as walking, cycling, horse-riding, gardening, farming and fishing -- and found positive physical and mental effects in the first five minutes of the exercise, the BBC reported."

Just another reason why environmental stewardships programs are so important, they preserve the quality of not only the resource, but of other peoples' recreational experiences and, thus, their health!

GPS Units determine geological effects of Chilean earthquake

In an interesting merge of nature and technology researchers from Ohio State were able to determine the geological effects of the February 27th earthquake in Chile using GPS units.

GPS measurements before and after the earthquake revealed that the town of Conception, the epicenter, moved nearly 10 ft to the west, while the larger city of Santiago moved over a foot.

For more information, please refer to this article: Chilean Earthquake

Historically used for scientific purposes, GPS units are a hot topic in the outdoor recreation world, with the increasing number of people worldwide participating in the activity of geocaching - similar to a treasure hunt - by which participants find caches based on GPS coordinates. Sometimes these caches are man-made, sometimes they are nature-based (a beautiful waterfall for example).

Thousands of caches are found in cities worldwide; an interesting (and peripheral) effect of a natural event like an earthquake, would be the shifting of these published geocaching coordinates.

For more information about geocaching, visit: http://www.geocaching.com/

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics recently began publishing educational materials that promote responsible enjoyment of this activity. For more information, please contact us.

Boulder County Open Space debates shifting to fee-based recreation.

There's debate ensuing in Leave No Trace's hometown of Boulder, Colorado. The subject: whether or not to begin a pilot program that would charge non-residents to use Open Space trails.

Boulder County's Parks and Open Space program was initiated in the mid-1960s by citizens interested in preserving land from rapid development. Since then, the city has spent $208 million to purchase more than 45,000 acres of open space in and around Boulder. Over 65% of land in Boulder County is protected from development by Boulder County and federal, state, and local agencies, either through conservation easements or land ownership.

Today, Boulder County still has more than 5,800 acres left in its master plan -- at an estimated cost of about $100 million.

To generate the funding needed for the rest of this land acquisition, another model program is being discussed at the city level: to begin charging a fee for non-Boulder County residents who use city-owned trails.

With a high influx of recreational users coming from the surrounding Denver metro areas, the program could be successfully tested at certain trailheads first where a high preponderance of these users visit.

On the flip side, many of these recreational users, while they live in Denver or the surrounding areas, have relocated to Colorado to enjoy the bounty of outdoor experiences this area has to offer. For these folks, living outside of Boulder is more a matter of occupational convenience, not because they spend any less time here.

Why charge only non-residents of Boulder County?

How will this effect the high-impact recreational areas of Boulder, should the city decide to ease in to this transition? Would focusing the pilot at certain trails cause outdoor users to simply shift their recreation to another trailhead?

Could this pilot, like the original Open Space program, have national implication in the long-run should it succeed?

To learn more:
Full Article, "Boulder could charge non-residents to use open space trails," Daily Camera
Boulder County Parks and Open Space Website

Image: Local residents of Boulder Colorado enjoying Flagstaff Mountain, an area already instituting fee-based recreation for non-Boulder County residents. Sara Close.

A Bear of an Encounter...

More than I'd like to admit, especially on early morning trail runs, the potential for run-ins with wildlife is quite high. On a recent escape in to the foothills surrounding Boulder, I had a buck run across the trail about 8 feet in front of me, and saw more than ample indication that a family of bears inhabits the same area. With an abundance of other recreationists also enjoying the area - via bouldering, hiking, picnicking, etc. - it's important to know how to Respect Wildlife. Even though it's your backyard, it's the front porch for the wildlife community, and important to act appropriately.

Here's one of my favorite videos, sent to me by a Traveling Trainer, that shows in a controlled environment the consequences of not storing or hanging food properly in a campsite. It takes place at a zoo in a mock campsite, but is an interesting representation of a real scenario.



To learn about how to Respect Wildlife, visit the Leave No Trace website.

A New Favorite

Anything that gets me outside, looking at this ...

And makes me smile this big ...

... Is my new favorite way to play outside!

What's your favorite way to play outside?

Community Program Focus: Kids in the Valley, Adventuring

As part of the Education Department, I get the privilege of reading through a lot of awesome grant applications from organizations doing Leave No Trace related programs. I thought I'd share one from our Tools for Teaching Fund, keeping in mind that over $.80 of every dollar the Center takes in goes right back into programming such as this.

This application is from "Kids in the Valley, Adventuring", a free family program in southwest VA. Co-founder Chip Donahue describes how the program got started:

In January of 2008, my wife and I started a free monthly family nature club for the families in the Roanoke, Virginia area. We call it KIVA, Kids In the Valley, Adventuring! and we have been meeting in a different park each since then. Our motto is simple: KIVA - Play, Learn, Volunteer. As a father of three and a second grade teacher, I see the need to encourage families to get out together to ensure that we have more natural stewards in the future.

We maintain a website at www.kidsadventuring.org and produce a monthly newsletter which goes out to over 350 families. Our events have been very successful and we even ended up on the Today show last summer. We write up gear and product reviews to help parents make good choices about things to carry with them on family hikes. We also discuss ways to take care of our environment and always carry bags with us to make sure the park is cleaner by the time we leave.

There are endless ways to get involved with the Leave No Trace program. One of the easiest? Become a member! Your annual dues support programs like the Tools for Teaching Fund, which in turn, generate opportunities for youth and families in your own community.

Off the Beaten Path

I love road trips! There is nothing like the open road, a reliable atlas and no schedule to feed that craving for exploration. With so many well-known landmarks and destination spots across the country, there is never a want for new places to see.

Sometimes you have the good fortune to stumble upon some pretty incredible places en route to these "destinations." That's just what happened to me last week as I was visiting some relatives in the Midwest. Never having seen much of the Upper Midwest, I set my sights on the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior. That destination became a stepping off point for several other small adventures. Here are few photos from the trip - enjoy! May your sense of discovery and exploration (and conservation!) never cease. :)


Kohler-Andrae State Park


Point Beach State Forest


Apostle Islands National Seashore

Red, Red Wine.

A first for Leave No Trace, and a plus for wine-lovers the world over...

Zero One Vintners, a Washington-based establishment whose wine is quickly winning the hearts of connoisseurs, has partnered with Leave No Trace for the release of their new "Wild Sky Cabernet."

The "Wild Sky" is unique as it is named after the Wild Sky Wilderness area: Washington's newest federally-designated wilderness area. For the founders of Zero One Vintners, associating the wine with an organization making a difference in preserving the Washington outdoors was paramount, and Leave No Trace is proud to be the beneficiary of a portion of sales from each bottle sold.

For more information, check out the Zero One Vintners website. Additional information on the "Wild Sky" can be found under News.

Rocky Mountain National Park expanding Long's Peak Parking.

Having spent each summer and the early part of my adult life living a stone's throw from the base of Long's Peak, the tallest peak in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park, I'm no stranger to the user dynamic of that area.

If you were to park it on the bench at the trailhead, you would notice a particular pattern established over the course of any day.
3:00am: The first wave of eager hikers arrive, headlamps emblazoned, they head up the trail at a decent clip, determined to reach summit and be back in time for breakfast.
5:00am: Silence.
6:00am: The second wave of hikers arrive. These folks, equally eager, share ambitions of summiting, as well as Chasm Lake, Granite Pass, or any other myriad of stops along the way.
8:00am: The third wave of hikers, which come at a steady roll until late morning, begin the casual, exploratory hiking in the area. Most don't plan on reaching the summit, or they intend to set up camp at the Boulder Field.
10:30am: First group begins to arrive back at the parking lot.
1:00 pm: Second group begins arriving back at the parking lot.
2:00 pm: The skies open up. IT'S STORMING! Run for your car!
2:30 - 5:00pm: Folks arrive back, and the parking lot clears out, save a few overnight parkers.

Granted, you would notice overall - especially on a good weather day - that the parking lot in Long's Peak reaches near capacity. There is a line of cars parked down the access road leading to the trailhead. The lot is, truly, maxed out.

This is perhaps one reason behind today's headline in the Daily Camera: "Rocky Mountain National Park Proposes More Long's Peak Parking." I suggest taking a read through, as it only begins to hint at a larger picture of how increased parking could impact this area - positively and negatively.

I love Long's Peak. I bring my family and friends there whenever they visit, because even if we don't reach the top, just being in the presence of such a beautiful monument is enjoyable enough. It is, without a doubt, a must see in Colorado.

However, if parking increases to the proposed level, what will this do to the land? The alpine areas that make up the large part of these region are fragile, and prone to damage if recreationists are unaware of how they must be treated. Thankfully, Rocky Mountain National Park has done an amazing job with the integration of Leave No Trace in to their park's culture, using the principles on backcountry permits, educating it's visitors at trail heads, and more.

What are your thoughts? What would you do - as a community member or as a supporter of Leave No Trace - if parking was suddenly increased at your favorite park? Increased traffic and user demographics are a catch-22: we need more participation in the outdoors in order to have people connect with and care about the future of the land, BUT we also risk increased impact on the land in conjunction with increased user traffic.

There's merit to both sides, I think.

Help Leave No Trace up to $10,000 this week!

By shopping at your favorite North Face store next week, May 4th - 10th, you can help Leave No Trace earn up to $10,000! REALLY!

The North Face is donating 5% of every purchase you make next week to Leave No Trace, AND then matching that 5% dollar for dollar! That means 10% of your purchase will be donated directly to Leave No Trace, with the potential to earn up to $10,000. Getting involved is simple: just mention Leave No Trace at checkout, or bring the above code in with you, to your nearest North Face store.

Have someone with a birthday coming up? Need new clothes for the spring time? Replacing your tent? Head to your nearest North Face store next week, and mention Leave No Trace at the checkout.

This fundraiser is only happening at North Face retail stores. Want to find the one nearest to you? Visit The North Face website.

City Oasis

To get to one of my favorite outdoor places, I don't even have to get in my car. Sloan's Lake Park in northwest Denver is a large urban open space, joining Cooper and Sloan Lake and offering, in my opinion, equally beautiful views of the front range and the city skyline (I recommend visiting around dusk).

It's close enough to many Denver neighborhoods that all you need to do is put on a pair of running shoes or hop on a bike and you can be there in minutes. Although it doesn't necessarily provide an "escape" from the city crowd, there is quite a bit of space for all to roam, and it's a stress free alternative to making the journey up a crowed I-70 corridor.

Unfortunately anytime I'm there, it's without a camera, so I've included a link to the city's greenprint page, which offers information on many Denver city parks.

http://www.greenprintdenver.org/environment/index.php

Enjoy!