Transcript Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace
for the Boy Scouts of America
A National Education Program Designed to Teach Stewardship,
Land Ethics, and Outdoor Skills on Public Lands
Presentation Objectives
 Provide an overview of resource impacts resulting
from recreational use.
 Review why a national Leave No Trace educational
program is needed.
 Introduce and describe Leave No Trace practices most
applicable for Boy Scouts.
Overview of Visitor Impacts
Vegetation Impacts
Vegetation loss
Spread of non-native species
Tree damage
Soil Impacts
Loss of organic litter
Soil compaction
Soil erosion
Wildlife Impacts
Disturbance of wildlife
Altered behavior
Reduced health & reproduction
Water Resource Impacts
Turbidity, sedimentation
Soap & fecal wastes
Social Impacts
Crowding
Conflicts
Cultural Resource
Impacts
Theft of artifacts
Damage to historic structures
Damage to cultural features
Loving Our Public Lands To Death?
 Wilderness recreation visitor days:
7 million in 1975
15 million in 1985
20 million in 2000
 National Park Service visits:
33 million in 1950
172 million in 1970
287 million in 2000
 Combined visitation to
undeveloped public lands:
670 million in 1992
Increasing visitation
= Increasing impacts?
Leave No Trace
Center for Outdoor Ethics
 A non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and
inspire responsible outdoor recreation through education,
research and partnerships.
 Partners with federal agencies, manufacturers, retailers and
others to promote minimum impact messages.
U.S. Forest
Service
National Park
Service
Bureau of
Land Management
U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service
Leave No Trace (LNT)
 The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor
Ethics is based in Boulder, Colorado.
 Leave No Trace staff develop and
distribute educational materials,
promote LNT initiatives with federal
agencies and cooperating organizations,
and conduct fundraising.
For more information:
800-332-4100 or www.LNT.org
1-
Current Status
 The Leave No Trace Center for
Outdoor Ethics is guided by an
Executive Director and a Board
of Directors with corporate,
non-profit and government
representatives.
 $700,000 budget and 11 staff in
2001
 Funding is primarily derived
from corporate manufacturing
and retail partners (N=250
currently).
 Leave No Trace might seem
unimportant until you consider
the combined effects of millions
of outdoor visitors.
 One poorly located campsite
or campfire may have little
significance, but thousands of
such instances seriously
degrade natural resources
and recreation experiences.
 To protect our resources we
must take the responsibility
to educate ourselves and
practice the skills and ethics
necessary to Leave No Trace.
Why Leave No Trace ?
The LNT Message
LNT practices are science-based:
Recreation ecology research tells us about
recreation impacts and how they can be
reduced by managers and visitors.
Social science research tells us about visitor
attitudes, behaviors, and social norms.
The LNT Challenge
 Prevent avoidable resource
and social impacts
 Minimize unavoidable
impacts
 Preserve the quality of
resources and recreation
experiences
The Seven LNT Principles
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
4. Leave What You Find
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
6. Respect Wildlife
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
Problem:
 Poor camping & hiking skills that unnecessarily impact natural
resources or degrade the experiences of other visitors.
 Soap in streams
 Expansion of campsites
 Campfire impacts
 Creation of new trails
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
Solution:
 Adult and youth leaders can learn, apply, and teach Leave No
Trace skills and ethics.
Information
& Training
WWW.LNT.ORG
Workshops, Trainer, & Master courses
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
Problem:
 Large group sizes that are noisy and crowd out other visitors.
 Displacement of others
at popular sites
 Noise
 Crowding
 Conflicts
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
Solution:
 Obtain sufficient leadership to travel and camp in smaller groups,
even when there aren’t group size limits.
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
Problem:
 Use of equipment that unnecessarily increase resource impacts.
Do you really need
an axe or saw?
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
Solution:
 Select equipment that facilitates Leave No Trace practices.
 Use backpacking stoves for cooking
 Bring a trowel to dig cat-holes
 Bring a piece of screen to strain
dishwater
 Use a candle lantern instead of a
campfire
2. Travel and Camp on
Durable Surfaces
Problem:
 Widening trails by hiking two or more abreast, creating new
trails, and cutting switchbacks.
2. Travel and Camp on
Durable Surfaces
Solution:
 Stay on formal trails when possible, walk single file in the center
of the tread. Don’t create new trails.
2. Travel and Camp on
Durable Surfaces
Problem:
 Creating new campsites or enlarging existing sites by developing
new tent sites or trampling vegetation around campsites.
2. Travel and Camp on
Durable Surfaces
Solution:
 Use only well-established campsites that are large enough for
your group or split the group and camp on separate sites.
 Focus activity in core use areas on the most durable surfaces.
Durable Surfaces:
Rock/gravel
Sand
Grass
Previously Disturbed Surfaces
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
Problem:
 Trash left behind, food spilled, left-over food buried or partially
burned. Wildlife attracted to campsites.
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
Solution:
 Pack it in, Pack it out: Inspect campsite for trash and spilled
foods, including “micro-garbage.” Don’t burn trash or food.
 Strain dishwater through a screen to remove food particles. Pack
these out, along with leftover food.
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
Problem:
 Pollution of water from washing or improperly disposed human
waste.
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
Solution:
 Carry water for washing dishes or your body 200 feet away from
streams or lakes and use small amounts of biodegradable soap.
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
Solution:
 Deposit solid human waste in catholes dug 6 to 8 inches deep at
least 200 feet from water, camp and trails. Cover and disguise the
hole when finished.
4. Leave What You Find
Problem:
 Souvenir collection and artifact theft (e.g., flowers, fossils, historic
or cultural artifacts, deer antlers, wild animals as pets).
4. Leave What You Find
Solution:
 Explain why souvenir collection is not sustainable. Leave natural
and cultural objects for others to see.
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
Problem:
 Proliferation and migration of campfire sites.
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
Solution:
 Use a lightweight stove for cooking and a candle lantern for light.
 Only build a campfire when permissible, in areas with an
adequate wood supply, and if an existing fire site is present.
LNT “virtual” campfire!
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
Problem:
 Damage to trees from axes, saws & knives, depletion of firewood,
large fire pits filled with charcoal and unburned trash and food.
Troop 375
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
Solution:
 If you do build a campfire … keep fire small and burn for a short
time to conserve fuel. Use sticks from the ground that can be
broken by hand.
 Burn all wood to ash, put fires
out completely and scatter
“cleaned” ashes to keep fire
pits small.
6. Respect Wildlife
Problem:
 Disturbance of wildlife, displacing them from areas of preferred
habitat.
6. Respect Wildlife
Solution:
 Enjoy wildlife at a distance.
 You are too close if your presence or actions elicit a response
from wildlife.
6. Respect Wildlife
Problem:
 Feeding wildlife (unintentional or intentional), attracting them to
people and developed areas.
 Feeding wildlife damages
their health, alters natural
behaviors, and exposes them
to predators and other
dangers.
6. Respect Wildlife
Solution:
 Never feed animals or allow them to obtain human food or trash.
Even a few pieces of GORP are a meal for many animals. Don’t
teach wildlife to be beggars!
6. Respect Wildlife
Problem:
 Bears that obtain human food become “problem bears” that
must be relocated or killed. Wildlife should not pay with their
lives due to our carelessness with food.
6. Respect Wildlife
Solution:
 Protect wildlife and your food by
storing rations and trash securely.
In bear country hang bear bags or
use bear-proof food canisters.
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
Problem:
 Crowding, particularly at attraction sites, along trails during rest
breaks, and in popular camping areas.
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
Solution:
 Take breaks off-trail, don’t monopolize attraction sites and
popular camping areas. Camp away from trails and other
visitors.
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
Problem:
 Conflicts with other groups,
particularly with visitors seeking
solitude.
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
Solution:
 Respect other visitors and protect the quality of their experience.
 Let nature’s sounds prevail. Avoid loud voices and noises.
Benefits of Applying LNT
 Better planning leads to safer
trips and lighter packs
 Prevents avoidable impacts,
minimizes unavoidable
impacts
 Protects the quality of natural
environments and recreation
experiences
 Avoids or minimizes the need
for restrictive management
regulations or use limitations
What Can I DO?
 Visit the website (www.lnt.org) or call the Leave No Trace
Center for Outdoor Ethics (1-800-332-4100) to obtain LNT
brochures, booklets, and other information.
 Learn and apply LNT skills and ethics on future trips!
 Complete the BSA LNT Awareness Award, take a Trainer or
Master’s course and then teach others.
 Become a supporting member of Leave No Trace.
Boy Scouts of America
LNT Awareness Award Requirements
1. Recite and explain the principles of Leave No Trace.
2. On three separate camping/backpacking trips, demonstrate
and practice the principles of Leave No Trace.
3. Earn the Camping and Environmental Science merit badges.
4. Participate in a Leave No Trace-related service project.
5. Give a 10-minute presentation on a Leave No Trace topic
approved by your Scoutmaster.
6. Draw a poster or build a model to demonstrate the differences
in how to camp or travel in high-use and pristine areas.
The End
Happy trails and remember to . . .
Leave No Trace !
This slide set was developed for the national Leave No Trace program.
Copies may be obtained from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor
Ethics.
Shorter versions can be developed by omitting slides or local images may
be substituted to adapt the program to specific areas.
Developed by Jeff Marion, Ph.D.
Leader, Cooperative Park Studies Unit,
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
540-231-6603, [email protected]