Sadly, there are still people in the world who want to see every acre of land, every plant, mineral, wildlife and water resource exploited for its maximum short-term economic reward. And there are others who would like to see our remaining wild areas preserved as museums where no human is allowed except, perhaps, for scientific study.
Then there are the rest of us, who just want to be able to get out in the outdoors and have fun. We want to visit beautiful, wild places and enjoy them. I think most of us hope in our hearts that they will still be there for generations to come.
It’s really a matter of balance and awareness.
It’s easy for those of us who travel on foot into the wilds to feel smug about how little impact we are having on the landscape, but the truth is, we have impact, too. Sometimes too much impact. To preserve the wilder places we love, we all need to focus on the simple concept of “Leave No Trace.”
As the name implies, Leave No Trace is the art of traveling through comparatively wild areas, leaving as little impact in your wake as possible. It isn’t easy; it takes conscious thought and effort.
The original code for minimizing your impact was “Take nothing but photos; leave nothing but footprints.” Unfortunately, even footprints have a cumulative impact. Every step we take, especially wearing hiking boots with “waffle stomper” soles, churns up dirt that washes away with the next rain.
In popular areas for hiking, that reality is obvious in the system of recreational trails are designed, graded and maintained to concentrate impact and minimize erosion.
Whenever possible, especially if traveling with a group or in a heavily-used area (such as the more popular sections of the White Mountain and Green Mountain National Forests or New York’s Adirondacks), stay on trails. On means on: it’s important to stay in the middle of the trail, not loop off to the side to avoid wet spots. Walking on the side of the trail begins eroding new soil, widening the trail, doing more permanent damage.
There are many more concepts involved in the notion of Leave No Trace.
“Carry out what you carried in” is an important concept. Better yet, if you find other people’s litter, carry that out, too.
Campfires are problematic. Today’s archaeologists study the remains of ancient campfires—that’s how long the impact of a campfire can remain. It’s absolutely unconscionable (not to mention illegal) to randomly build fires on public land or private land where you don’t have permission. To Leave No Trace, use only downed, dead wood only in established firepits. Better yet, carry a camp stove which defers the impact from the spot you are camping back to civilization where the stove and fuel were manufactured.
It’s also important to camp on durable surfaces. Many “backcountry tent sites” have gravel pads or even wooden tent platforms to concentrate the impact. Better to have a lot of impact in a few spots than hundreds of random human incursions visible on the landscape.
Properly disposing of your own waste is another part of Leave No Trace. We have already published a how to article on camp hygiene.
Leave No Trace is mostly awareness and common sense. If you take to the trails this fall and camp out under the stars, here’s a simple idea to take with you: If each of us takes the maximum amount of enjoyment that we can from our time outdoors, while consciously having as little overall impact as we possibly can, that leaves more for our kids and our kid’s kids. Life isn’t a spectator sport. Get out, Leave No Trace, and enjoy!
More Info
The basic principles of Leave No Trace were developed by the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others in cooperation with a variety of private groups including the non-profit Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, the National Outdoor Leadership School, and, here in the east, the Appalachian Mountain Club.
If you’re looking for more information visit the Tread Lightly website or their wonderful website Tread Lightly for Kids.
Maintaining Balance
In a heavily-populated area like the northeast, can we really meet the recreational needs of millions of people, provide jobs in rural areas, protect our remaining wild areas and conserve our natural resources?
The answer is a qualified “yes.” But it’s a never-ending balancing act. How do you, for example, reconcile the differences between people who walk or pedal into the woods to escape with those who want to ride a motorized ATV.
Developments like the new Jericho Mountain State Park in Berlin, New Hampshire certainly help. From what I hear, the park gives ATVers a wonderful place to enjoy their vehicles and their time outdoors. It’s drawn ATV riders from all over the northeast and has become an important economic engine in the northcountry which is suffering from paper mill closures.
For the rest of us, it concentrates and manages the considerable impact ATVs have on the landscape. Having a place like Jericho Mountain leaves other places for people like me (and, maybe, you?) to walk and ride mountain bikes without having to hear motors running or breathe exhaust fumes. It makes it easier to keep most of our National Forest areas motor-free.
Everybody wins. We need more creative solutions like this if we want to save what remains of our wilderness in the east.