YOUR PARTNERSHIP IN ACTION QUARTER 1, 2015
THREE DOWN, NINE TO GO
The Hot Spot Program, a key component of the Leave No Trace in Every Park initiative, raises community awareness and brings solutions to popular natural areas around the country facing heavy recreational use and consequently, the threat of harm to trails, parks and open space areas.
Point Reyes National Seashore, California People are Getting too Close to the Wildlife
Over 25 different endangered or threatened species call this area home. Throughout the seven-day Hot Spot Leave No Trace educated 470 volunteers who will directly interact with an estimated 2.5 million visitors to the park this year.
“We just completed a very inspirational Hot Spot week with Leave No Trace and we look forward to incorporating more Leave No Trace messages into our education programs at Point Reyes.” -John Dell’Osso, Chief of Interpretation at Point Reyes Point Reyes Trash Clean Up Stats: • Over 1000 pounds of trash collected. • 40 volunteers showed up to help. • One mile of shoreline and two miles of trail were cleaned up. • Items Found: • Lots of scrap wood • One tire rim • A barbie shoe • A boy band necklace
Hot Spots: Areas that are damaged but that can make a healthy recovery with Leave No Trace.
Saguaro National Park, Arizona Getting the Community Involved to Solve Three Major Impacts
Saguaro National Park was selected as a Hot Spot because of several large impacts occurring. Invasive species, undesignated trail use, and litter are the major impacts to the park. To raise awareness and show the community what they could do to minimize these impacts, the Leave No Trace Center visited Saguaro in February to work with the local community. Leave No Trace provided training for 169 key advocates of the park, from the National Park Service, REI, the University of Arizona Outdoor Adventure Center, Saguaro National Park Law Enforcement volunteers, Arizona Conservation Corp and the Girl Scouts of Tucson.
Travis County Parks, Texas
7 Days, 7 Programs, 395 New People Trained The scenic and popular Travis County Parks has experienced visitor-created impacts in recent years including excessive trash, damage to vegetation, trees and trail erosion. With outstanding turnouts and enthusiastic participants, the Travis County Hot Spot was a great success!
• TRAINED 60 County Park Employees, 60 Texas Conservation Corp Members, 15 university students and 260 park visitors • 15 undesignated trails camouflaged • 6 organizations collaborating to raise awareness about recreation related impacts • 2 trash removal projects to clean up high use climbing areas
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