A while ago, I wrote about “Wilderness Jackwads” and how crazy they make me.  So I figured I should address the idea of Leave No Trace…

What is Leave No Trace?

Leave No Trace is an ethical code of conduct for anyone exploring the wilderness or really doing any outdoor activities. Leave No Trace is also a non-profit that was founded as part of a conservation educational program by multiple government agencies in the early 90s.

Why should you care about LNT?

Think of the last time you went hiking or camping. Imagine if it went something like this… You hiked all day, with pretty views, but only a few, sad wildflowers along the route. The trail was so wide, you could walk 3-across and sometimes it was hard to stay on the trail because it was so washed out and rutted. You got to your campsite and it was littered with beer cans and chocolate wrappers, which looked extra bad in your pictures. There were about 25 campsites in the area, including the guy in the middle of the meadow, who had some music pumping until 10pm. Bears and raccoons got in your food during the night, scattering debris everywhere. And when you went to find a spot to go to the bathroom in the morning, there was toilet paper littered around.

Let’s be real… would you ever want to go camping again??? That wouldn’t exactly be a “wilderness experience.” Yet this is what things were like in the 60s and 70s as more and more people started to get outside. The book, Night of the Grizzlies, by Jack Olsen, talks about bear attacks in Glacier National Park in 1967. The park service used to throw trash and food scraps into a pile near the cabins so people could watch the bears scavenge. As a result, bears became habituated to people and associated them with food, causing two fatal attacks in one night. (By the way – don’t ever read this book before you go backpacking in grizzly country. It’s scary and totally true!!) Luckily, for this generation we have learned much about respecting nature and wildlife since then.

People generally want to go camping so they can enjoy a break from the outside world. They don’t want to see tons of other people and have to listen to city noises. They certainly don’t want to see trash and the sign of so many other people there before them. They want to enjoy the natural beauty of the landscape, see brilliant flowers and lots of critters. Leave No Trace is designed to help preserve the environment, in its richest and most natural form, for everyone to enjoy.

LNT is broken down into 7 Principles:

1. Plan Ahead and Prepare: Know the rules where you are going. Camping in the desert is quite a bit different than camping near a lake or on a glacier when it comes to human waste management. Are you going to be in bear country? Better know how to properly store your food. Be prepared for emergencies. Plan your route. The best way to do this is to research the Park or National Forest you are going to visit! Most of this info is available on the internet.

2.  Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces: Stay on the trail! When you start cutting corners on the trail or trying to get around mud, you are creating user trails or widening the trail and causing erosion. As pretty as it is, don’t camp in that giant meadow of flowers. Wildflowers are very sensitive and take many years to grow back. Camp in an already-impacted location if you can, so you aren’t creating new impacts.

3. Dispose of Waste Properly: This means if you pack it in, you should pack it back out! All your trash, including that apple core you are tempted to chuck into the woods… Pack it out! Any scraps left over from dinner… Pack it out! Dig a hole for your poop 6-8″ deep. Pack out your toilet paper and tampons (please don’t burn it and start a forest fire) in Ziploc baggies.

4.  Leave What You Find: When I worked at Mt Rainier National Park, I had to send the Law Enforcement Ranger to intercept a minivan, packed full of river rocks. They were taking it home for their garden. That’s actually illegal in a National Park, but it’s also bad LNT ethics. Take nothing with you but pictures so that other folks can enjoy the beauty too! Find a cool set of antlers? Take a picture! Beautiful wildflowers? Take a picture! But leave it for the next person to enjoy.

5.  Minimize Campfire Impacts: We all love a good campfire to roast marshmallows at night. But you can do a lot of damage to the soil with a campfire. Nothing will grow back if the soil is damaged! First off, use a location where there has already been a campfire. It’s already messed up, so you won’t do any extra harm. Don’t bother with a rock fire ring. Those things don’t actually keep your fire contained anyways and just disturb the surroundings and scar the rocks. If you must have a fire and there isn’t already an established ring, dig a shallow hole to remove the fertile topsoil. Line your hole with a fire blanket to prevent soil damage. Make sure your fire is DEAD OUT and re-cover it with the topsoil before you leave. Here’s one of my biggest pet peeves: Collecting firewood. Only gather wood if it is dead and already on the ground. Don’t bring a hatchet to chop down a tree. Live wood doesn’t burn well anyways!

6.  Respect Wildlife: Just like Glacier National Park learned after the bear attacks in ’67, don’t feed the wildlife! Not only does it habituate animals to humans, but they become reliant on people. Or, in the case of Gray Jays, also known as Camp Robbers, they gain a competitive advantage. Gray Jays love to steal food from campsites. People love to feed them, sometimes by hand. But, most people don’t know that they also prey on songbird eggs. Gray Jay populations grow around campgrounds and they kill off all the songbirds in the area. In areas with black bears or grizzlies, food storage is extra important to prevent habituation and run-ins with people. We can also look at the wave of bison attacks in Yellowstone National Park this summer. The majority of the attacks were because tourists ventured too close (as in 6 feet away) to take photos of the bison. Give wildlife plenty of space and a healthy dose of respect.

7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors: Most folks didn’t come to the woods to see other people. Be sure to give others space. Don’t camp right on the trail. Camp out of sight of other campers. Don’t blast music in your campsite. Turn your ringers off on your cell phones. Most of all, be polite on the trail. Step off the trail and out of someone else’s way, especially if you are travelling in a group. If you see horses or mules on the trail, step off on the downhill side. Mules like to think you are going to eat them if you are uphill. Control your dog. Think of the experience you want to have in the backcountry and make sure everyone else gets that same experience!

Leave No Trace is simple. No one is perfect at it, but it’s important to be informed and make a serious effort so we preserve the pristine nature of the landscape. In doing so, we also preserve our own wilderness experience when others are around. Because as much as you don’t want to see someone else and their many traces when you are enjoying a backpacking trip, no one wants to see you or your impacts either!!

Please visit Leave No Trace to learn more about Wilderness Ethics! They are a wonderful non-profit!

The Seven Principles are copyrighted to LNT. (c) Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics: www.LNT.org.