Member Highlight: California Teen Teaches Leave No Trace

California Teen Teaches Leave No Trace

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. Questions for Amy.

LNT: What activities do you do outdoors?
AC: One of my favorite outdoor activities is backpacking. I love being with my friends and family in the backcountry, living off whatever I've brought and hiking in all sorts of beautiful places. Besides that I'm a huge fan of ultimate frisbee, which I learned to play at Philmont. The best thing about it though, is all the fun and interesting people I've gotten to meet.
LNT: Where did you learn about Leave No Trace and what about it made you interested in teaching it?
AC: I first learned Leave No Trace from my father who got it from his Woodbadge training. We were asked to teach it to our sister Troop, and so we did a lot of our own research into the topic. I really liked its focus on keeping the wilderness as it is because I've always hated litter. I see it all the time in my city and it's really gross. So when I go to a nice place in the mountains or the desert I like seeing it clean and natural.

LNT: Can you tell me about the Leave No Trace training that you did? Who were the people that you trained?
AC: After that I started working as a youth staff member on Woodbadge to train the participants, both spring and fall of 2007 and every fall course since. We teach them all about Leave No Trace on their fourth day, which in our area is their first day on the second weekend. Sometimes it's a Round Robin and other times it's a classroom set-up. Now that the Leave No Trace principles are a Boy Scouts of America requirement (which is great news!) my crew and I will be doing presentations for our current sister troop. I train both youth and adults but, I like training the adults more, most of them understand what a challenge it is to keep nature like it is and how important it is that it stay that way.

LNT: Why do you think it is important to teach people about Leave No Trace? Do you have any more plans to be a Leave No Trace trainer?
AC: I think it's important because it's taken for granted most of the time, if we don't take care of it, nature will disappear. It's the first set of guidelines we've ever had to create just to keep us from destroying something beautiful, and the principles are extremely easy to remember and do. I hope to continue teaching and practicing the seven principles. It's a lot of fun and definitely worth it.

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.

New Year's Resolution from National Park Service Director

December 24, 2008

New Year's Resolution from NPS Director Mary A. Bomar

WASHINGTON – Out with the old, in with the new—let’s get rid of those tired old New Year's resolutions and do something different—pledge to take a kid to visit a national park!

As Director of the National Park Service, I have spoken across the country of our children being “seduced by the dark side of video games.” That may sound harsh—but it reflects the grim reality that too many kids spend too much time in front of the television, and too little time in healthy outdoor recreation

Across the country, teachers bemoan a lack of knowledge about our nation’s history. As I often point out in my speeches. “More people know Homer Simpson’s hometown than Abraham Lincoln’s.” (Yes, they are both from the town of Springfield.)

As we become an increasingly sedentary society, it is important to set aside time to get up and get moving. A walk through a national park with your child promotes family bonding, a healthy lifestyle, and countless opportunities for discovery.

National parks are the real deal—and places where kids can be hands on. Lat year, we enrolled 565,000 new Junior Rangers after they completed activities at a national park. Just about every national park offers this free program that guides children through site-specific activities. We engaged kids and their families with “bioblitzes,” a quick inventory of all living things in an area. Throughout the country, kids can borrow “discovery backpacks,” visit “exploration stations,” attend ranger programs, or participate in living history demonstrations. We introduced hundreds of thousands to urban archeology at places like Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, and told the story of Africans enslaved just a block away from Independence Hall.

We are not against technology—if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! As a visitor, you can hear the Gettysburg Address on your cell phone while visiting the Lincoln Memorial, and hear about President Harry Truman while strolling through his neighborhood in Independence Missouri.

All across the country, park rangers are turning into podcasters. Hundreds of brief audio and video programs are up on park websites, giving visitors a new national park experience. People can learn about park resources, take a guided tour, get help planning trips, and, best of all, meet actual rangers.

We have a website for children at www.nps.gov/kidszone with online games that are both fun AND educational. There are activities about wild animals, caves, soldiers, working dogs, archeology, and much more. Children can create their own ranger station, view webcams, and sample the Junior Ranger program.

I always say that national parks are special places that unite all of us as American. But they can also enlighten, comfort and keep us healthy as well. So do your kids a favor and visit one of the 391 national park sites across this country. Help them discover their America—without a joystick in their hands!