1. Leave No Trace for the Boy Scouts of America
The Need for Leave No Trace
A National Education Program Designed to Teach
Stewardship, Land Ethics, and Outdoor Skills

2. The Need for Leave No Trace Outdoor Skills & Ethics
Let’s begin this session by stopping for just a minute to think about what kind of resource and social conditions we want to experience on our next Boy Scout outing.
Do we want to see noisy crowds of people engaged in high impact behaviors?
Do we want to see enormous campsites whose vegetation is worn away, eroding soils and exposed tree roots, damaged and felled trees, and huge fire pits filled with trash?
How about improperly disposed human waste just uphill from the spring?

3. Presentation Objectives
Review the resource impacts that can result from outdoor recreational activities.
Describe the level of BSA outdoor use and our reputation among land managers.
Describe WHY a national Leave No Trace educational program is needed.
The following slides will illustrate some of the impacts associated with our outdoor activities and are intended to provide a compelling reason for us to learn and apply Leave No Trace practices and ethics.
Describe the objectives.

4. Overview of Visitor Impacts
So, pull up a log at our virtual campfire and let’s take a quick look at some of the impacts that our outdoor activities can cause.
Leave No Trace “Virtual” Campfire

5. Spread of non-native species
Vegetation Impacts
Vegetation loss
Spread of non-native species
Tree damage
Think about the impacts to plants and soils that occur if you chose to create a new campsite or set up your tent just off the edge of an existing campsite.
The vegetation would be quickly flattened and trampled down and the plants around your cooking area and tent would be killed.
With additional traffic from others who find and reuse your campsite or tent site, the rest of the vegetation would be removed.
A similar progression of impact occurs with concentrated off-trail hiking.

6. Soil Impacts Loss of organic litter Soil compaction Soil erosion
Intensive trampling pulverizes and removes all organic litter, exposing the underlying soils to compaction and erosion.
Within about 15 nights of use the area would look just like any other well-used campsite.
Off-trail hiking can also lead to concentrated traffic and the proliferation of user-created informal trails with the same vegetation loss and soil exposure, compaction, and erosion.

7. Water Resource Impacts Turbidity, sedimentation
Soap & fecal wastes
Soils eroded from campsites and trails often find their way into springs, creeks, and lakes, where they cause turbidity and sedimentation that harm aquatic life.
Campers who wash dishes with soap, including “biodegradable” soap, introduce harmful chemicals to the water that also harm aquatic life.
And what do you think happens to the fecal material from campers who don’t bury their wastes when toilets aren’t available?

8. Disturbance of wildlife Reduced health & reproduction
Wildlife Impacts
Disturbance of wildlife
Altered behavior
Reduced health & reproduction
Our activities can also harm wildlife. If we observe them too closely they will flee areas that may be important for their survival.
If don’t store our food safely, wildlife will find it and chew holes in unattended gear, often ingesting harmful packaging.
Fed wildlife often become aggressive campsite beggars that may bite campers. Some carry harmful diseases like rabies or the hanta virus.

9. Social Impacts Crowding Conflicts
The way we behave in the out of doors can also degrade the experience of other visitors.
Many outdoor visitors are seeking solitude and natural quiet – how will they react to a large group of Boy Scouts?
Does our presence create crowding or conflicts with other visitors?

10. Damage to historic structures Damage to cultural features
Cultural Resource
Impacts
Theft of artifacts
Damage to historic structures
Damage to cultural features
Visitor impacts to cultural and historic resources are particularly dire because these resources are irreplaceable – once degraded or lost they are gone forever.

11. Are recreation impacts really a problem?
The impacts of heavy or intensive outdoor visitation really do impact the environment in ways that are both visually obvious and ecologically harmful.
For most public land managers, their mandate to protect natural environments and processes is primary, recreational visitation is secondary.
If outdoor visitors continue to increase in number and don’t adopt the best available low impact practices, land managers will limit our use or impose regulations such as banning campfires or restricting where we can camp.

12. Improving the Reputation of Scouts
Troop 375
The Boy Scouts have had a very poor reputation among public land managers. Many land managers associate us with a variety of camping impacts, particularly those related to campfires and the improper use of hand tools.
Do your scouts cut switchbacks on trails, do they widen trails by walking two or three abreast? Do they wash dishes in the creek? Do they leave behind uneaten food, trash, or unburied waste?
Managers also hear complaints from other visitors about how loud we are or that we tend to dominate popular attraction features or camping areas.
The good news is that our reputation is beginning to improve because of the BSA’s expanding adoption of Leave No Trace practices.

13. Loving Our Public Lands To Death?
BSA: > 5 million members, 308 Councils, 138,000 units
50,000+ Troops & 17,000+ Crews =
300,000+ weekend trips
10,000+ weekend multi-group trips
5,000+ week-long trips
1,000+ week-long multi-group trips
However, many consider the BSA to be the “elephant in the woods” because of our large group sizes and numbers.
BSA outings put more people in the out-of-doors than any other organization in the world.
Estimated annual outdoor BSA use
on public/private recreation lands:
Increasing visitation
= Increasing impacts?
Over 15 million user days!

14. Why Leave No Trace ?
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 our natural resources.
To protect our resources we must assume the responsibility to educate ourselves and practice the skills and ethics necessary to Leave No Trace.
The actions of any single scout or troop may seem inconsequential, but it’s useful to always ask yourself and those who are with you, “What if everyone did that?”
What if everyone enlarged a campsite, built a new fire ring, cut down a dead tree, or washed their dishes in the spring or creek?
We all need to recognize the aggregate impacts of our camping and hiking practices and learn to reduce them by learning and adopting Leave No Trace practices.

15. The LNT Challenge Prevent avoidable resource and social impacts
Minimize unavoidable impacts
Preserve the quality of resources and recreation experiences
The LNT Challenge is to: …
Can anyone give me an example of an avoidable impact? How about a few more? (using a hand tool to cut limbs or dead trees for firewood, washing dishes in the creek, cooking with a fire instead of a stove, feeding wildlife or not storing food safely, ….)
How about some examples of impacts that are mostly unavoidable but that can be minimized? (trampling on a trail – walk single file and don’t widen it, setting up a tent – find the most durable surface available, like rock or bare soil)

16. 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
This course is designed to teach you how to avoid or minimize your impacts by learning low impact practices organized around the seven Leave No Trace Principles.

17. 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
There are many benefits to learning and use low impact practices…
Lighten your packs and gear by leaving behind heavy hand tools.
Protect the environment and the quality of outdoor experiences for others by avoiding or minimizing impacts.
Don’t give land managers more reasons for restricting our access to the public lands or for imposing restrictions or regulations. Work with them to help protect the quality of our outdoor environments and recreational experiences.
Avoids or minimizes the need for restrictive management regulations or use limitations

18. The End Leave No Trace ! Happy trails and remember to . . .
Developed by Jeff Marion,
Happy trails and remember to . . .
Leave No Trace !