AW Mountain Leave No Trace Guidelines and Lesson

From WildWiki

The following information comes from the national [LNT office http://www.lnt.org/main.html] in Colorado.

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Many of us have taken a pine cone or rock, veered off the trail to dodge mud puddles, gotten too close to wildlife or tossed an apple core into the woods. While these actions may seem harmless at the time, until we learn to reduce our impact, the quality of our outdoor experiences and the recreational resources we enjoy are at critical risk. Also at risk is our continued access to wildlands as land management agencies sometimes take restrictive action to protect the resources they manage. Unless, of course, education catches up with behavior, and we all learn to leave the outdoors as unchanged as possible by our presence.

The Solution

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics believes that while these impacts are widespread and the causes are complex, the solution is simple: change behavior through education, research and partnerships one person at a time. Leave No Trace is not a set of rules or regulations. Nor is it simply about remembering exactly what minimum impact skill you can practice in every outdoor situation–how far you should camp from water sources, where to pitch your tent, how to build a minimum impact fire or if you should build one in the first place. Rather, it is first and foremost and attitude and an ethic. Leave No Trace is about respecting and caring for wildlands, doing your part to protect our limited resources and future recreation opportunities. Once this attitude is adopted and the outdoor ethic is sound, the specific skills and techniques become second nature.

Principles of Leave No Trace LNT Principles in Detail

   * Plan Ahead and Prepare
   * Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
   * Dispose of Waste Properly
   * Leave What You Find
   * Minimize Campfire Impacts
   * Respect Wildlife
   * Be Considerate of Other Visitors