Leave No Trace: Tips On Low Impact Practices While Enjoying Nature

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"Leave No Trace" is a US Forest Service principles that promotes conservation and emphasizes leaving nature the way you found it...natural, so that when others arrive they can't tell you've been there. This principle reminds us that while enjoying nature we need to keep our impact on our surroundings at a minimum to ensure the health and quality of the environment. Whether your hiking, picnicking, camping, boating, or rock-climbing remember these simple practices:

1. Plan ahead - check weather, plan meals, check skill level

2. Travel and camping
* High use areas - use established campsites and trails to avoid damaging vegetation
* Low use areas - avoid creating a worn path - walk the unused path and camp in new locations

**Good campsites are found not created - look for a place that will need the least alteration

* In both cases - minimize campsite alteration

3. Pack it in - Pack it out
* Simply don't leave waste behind - carry out all waste (except human waste, which should be buried at least 6 feet deep and at least 200 feet from any body of water

4. Leave what you find - don't take home souvenirs from nature
* do not hammer nails into trees
* do not dig trenches

5. Campfire - minimize impact
* eliminate the need for campfire - use a lightweight camp stove instead
* use existing campfire rings
* use fallen trees
* burn wood to ash
* ensure campfire wood is out cold

6. Respect wildlife
* give animals space
* view from a distance
* store food properly

NEVER FEED WILDLIFE...HELP KEEP WILDLIFE WILD

7. Be considerate of other visitors
* travel and camp in small groups
* keep noise levels low - enjoy the sounds of nature
* camp away from others to keep solitude
* respect private property
* respect the privacy of other campers

Now get out there and enjoy nature...

Reference: USFS, (n.d.), "The principles of leave no trace", USDA,
Http;//fs.usda.gov>stelprdb5143036

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