Going over my first post on this subject in my mind I keep feeling that more needed to be said about why I think this is important.  The question I keep asking myself is “Would someone who doesn’t get it before they read my post get it after they read it?”  So either to quiet the voices in my head or to perhaps explain on a more personal level why I consider the subject worth thinking about, writing about and most importantly keeping in mind when spending time out in the wide world…

When leaving the “civilized” world behind and traveling off into nature there is a very special moment that occurs when you realize there are no more footprints in front of you.  If you have yet to experience this I highly suggest making it a goal in your life.  To know that no one has passed farther in sufficient time that nature has reclaimed their mark is a sign that you have gone beyond the range of others.  The path is now yours alone unless you should happen upon another headed the opposite way.

There are few things more jarring to me than one moment being alone in nature like that and then in the next see some horrible sign that others of a less caring nature have passed before and left their mark in ways that long outlasted their footprints.  Trees hacked apart for sport, garbage left behind, fire damage and poopblossoms on the side of the trail will quickly remind you that nature can only do so much to wipe away the marks humans make.

Not all the damage is done by uncaring people.  Some folks would never guess at the damage they do because they never think about it.   That is my point, on many subjects heh, but especially this one; People should think more about what they are doing and what the impact of that act might be.  Only by being self aware can we recognize the marks we’re leaving in our wake and do something to lessen them.

Now I don’t expect people to be perfect saints.  In my mind it isn’t how close to perfect you can be but how far from perfectly awful you can get that matters.   I’m always trying to be aware and do a better job of that myself.

Last October I found myself finishing setting up my camp on the shady side of East Baldpate off the Grafton Loop late in the afternoon. Returning from the creek after filtering water for the evening and next day I noticed the easily identifiable rubber bands from my tent pole laying in the dirt next to my pack. Kicking myself for being so sloppy I quickly picked them up and was about to stuff them back in the pole sack when I noticed my bands were where they were supposed to be.  Someone else had dropped and left the identical bands in the campsite previously.  If only I’d been paying more attention I could have picked them up earlier and avoided that thirty seconds of feeling guilty for being such a slob heh.  Of course it would have been better if the person who dropped them had done their part in the first place.

I didn’t let that episode ruin my trip and really being thoughtful about our impact on nature doesn’t have to ruin anyone’s trip.  It is the not being thoughtful that can really do a lot of damage.  Next time I return to this topic I’ll start getting more into detail about the principles and simple ways you can leave your trails looking a little more less traveled by.

Leave No Trace is a concept originally developed in a collaboration of the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the US Forest Service.  Their goal at the time was to teach visitors to respect the natural areas they traveled through and to minimize the impact their visits had there.  The USFS went on to create an education and training program with the National Outdoor Leadership School to promote the concept to ever broader groups.  Scouting and nature conservancy groups also have played a big role in spreading the word.  Those beginnings led to the creation of the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the concepts and giving educators the skills needed to train others on the subject.

Since this is a subject that I find very important in a number of ways I intend to do a series of articles on the subject.  For today I’m more interested in the philosophy behind the concept, but if you are unfamiliar with the subject there are seven basic principles that form the foundation of the practices

• Preparation
• Use durable surfaces
• Proper waste disposal
• Leave things as found
• Minimize fire impact
• Respect wildlife
• Respect others

Much could be written on each of these and I hope to visit each of them later.   I’ll include some links to more information at the end of this piece if you would like to do some more reading on the subject now.  As I said, I’d prefer to focus on the “why” behind the whole concept today.  Why should people bother to care about the impact their existence in a particular spot has on that spot?  Why make an effort to preserve something we don’t own and may never visit again?  I think the answer starts with the reasons we head out into nature in the first place or even with the definition of the word nature itself.

Nature: The physical world and everything in it (such as plants, animals, mountains, oceans, stars, etc.) that is not made by people

To me that means the marks of humankind are not apparent.  If we strive to go beyond the range of human development and to what extent we can visit a world untouched by man it seems we should have an obligation to leave no mark of our existence there after we’ve passed.  The travelers who follow the same path should be greeted with nature as it exists when we arrived leaving as little evidence that others have gone this way before as we can manage.

Some justify the effort in terms of preserving natural spaces for future generations.  Others are more self serving, being primarily concerned that they might lose access to lands if human impact there is deemed too destructive.  I agree with those reasons, but long before my logical mind can mull the concepts my instinctive mind has already loudly answered the question of “Why?” with a resounding “Why would you do anything else?”  To move through nature with as little disturbance as possible has been a life long avocation of mine.  When I first heard about Leave No Trace much of it was already how I did things. Improving on those instinctive skills is something I continue to work on.

If we really have an appreciation for natural experience and recognize the value of that experience then it seems imperative that our actions are respectful.  Easily enough said, but putting these principles into action requires more than just good intentions.  I’ll be visiting this subject periodically to focus on each of the seven principles in detail, covering some techniques, but also exploring them from a philosophical standpoint.  If we all do our part then most every trail can take on the appearance of the one less traveled by!

Appalachian Trail Conservancy Leave No Trace Practices

Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics