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TECH TIPS THIS ONE’S PERFECT
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EDUCATION IN MOTION
Find out when the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers will be near you!
HELP IS ON THE WAY
2015 Hot Spots are in full swing as part of Leave No Trace In Every Park
STAY SAFE THIS SUMMER
3 Helpful Hydration Hints from Leave No Trace
NEW NATIONAL TRAINING GUIDELINES Everything you need to know
JULY 2015 | www.LNT.org
CONTENTS
JULY 2015
LEAVE NO TRACE TIPS & TRICKS
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STAY HYDRATED THIS SUMMER
2015 HOT SPOTS
4-9
HELPING YOU ENJOY YOUR WORLD
10-11
TRAVELING TRAINER TECH TIPS
12-13
LEAVE NO TRACE EDUCATION
14
LEAVE NO TRACE PRO SHOP
OFF TRAIL ADVICE, CLEANUP CLUES & MORE!
UPDATED TRAINING GUIDELINES
COLLECT ALL 19 TECH TIP STICKERS
Cover photo taken by Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers: Pat & TJ Beezley at Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery in San Simeon, California.
Helpful Hydration Hints When you’re spending time outdoors in the warmer months, staying hydrated is imperative. Seems obvious, yet consider that in the past few years there have been 15 deaths in Grand Canyon National Park related to environmental factors including heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and dehydration. Having enough water to sustain you while outdoors falls squarely under the first Leave No Trace principle—Plan Ahead and Prepare— and is something everyone should think about before heading out. A few things to consider:
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A good rule of thumb is to have one gallon of water per person, per day. For some people this may not be enough, and for others it may be too much. However, it is a good starting point.
Kids are more susceptible to dehydration than adults in many cases, so make sure your littlest companions are well hydrated. If you’re out for a long day, or more than a day, you will need to consider having a way to purify water. Whether you choose to use a filter, water purification tablets, a steri-pen or a gravity filter, be sure to have some way to treat your water.
LEAVE NO TRACE 2015 HOT SPOTS
Help is on the way with Hot Spots! With more than 1.6 billion people visiting public lands each year, many outdoor areas across our nation are negatively impacted by recreational use. The reason is usually not malicious intent to harm nature and wildlife; rather it’s simply lack of knowledge or skills. The end result however is usually the same: litter, invasive species, habituated wildlife, dog waste, trail and campsite erosion, water sources polluted with human waste and more.
In response, the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics has selected 12 scenic and popular sites as Hot Spots this year. Now in its 5th year, the Leave No Trace Hot Spot program is designed to recover and protect the places we cherish before damage becomes irreversible. These Hot Spots, part of The Center’s Leave No Trace in Every Park campaign, will bring Leave No Trace to life with education and outreach programs that work to turn the tide on long-term damage to nature.
LEAVE NO TRACE 2015 HOT SPOTS
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Saguaro National Park, AZ: Selected because of several large impacts the park is facing—invasive species, undesignated trail use, and littering. The week spent in Tucson, Arizona, in February included events ranging from a workshop with Saguaro National Park staff meeting local cyclists to Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers working with technicians along the Arizona trail to help curb the spread of buffelgrass, an invasive species that has contributed to devastating desert fires. 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, Austin, TX: The scenic and popular Travis County Parks has experienced visitor-created impacts in recent years, including excessive trash, damage to vegetation, and tree and trail erosion. Through workshops, staff training, and trailhead outreach, Leave No Trace staff trained 65 staff members in Leave No Trace practices and reached over 395 participants that week in Texas. The public learned methods to camouflage undesignated trails, dig cat holes, and other valuable skills to minimize their impact and teach others. Point Reyes National Seashore, CA: This unique area is home to more than 25 endangered or threatened species. Leave No Trace educated 470 park volunteers interacting with an estimated 2.5 million visitors to the park this year. Over the week, 1,000 pounds of trash were removed from a one-mile stretch of shoreline and two miles of trail.
LEAVE NO TRACE 2015 HOT SPOTS
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Tillamook State Forest Wilson River Corridor, OR: The Leave No Trace Center addressed three major recreational impacts: improper disposal of human waste, tree damage at campsites, and river corridor degradation. The team led workshops for forest staff, visited elementary schools, held campfire talks in the evenings, and ran a Leave No Trace booth at the Portland Rose Festival. The Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers and volunteers cleaned six miles of the Tillamook River via kayaks—they picked up fishing lines and lures, tires, several parts of an engine, and even a kitchen sink!
LEAVE NO TRACE 2015 HOT SPOTS
Upcoming Hot Spots: • Mt. Bierstadt Arapahoe, Roosevelt and Pike National Forests, CO (July 13th-20th) • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area Huron-Manistee National Forest, MI (August 10th-17th) • Linville Gorge Wilderness Area Pisgah National Forest, NC (August 24th-30th) • Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument Gifford Pinchot National Forest, WA (August 31st-September 7th)
Find more Hot Spot information online!
Tech Tips for your Summer Adventures Did you know that since January 1st, 2015 the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers have visited 118 parks, spent 134 nights outside, and have cooked 252 meals on a camp stove? These outdoor experts know just about every trick in the book; here are some tech tips that they would like to share with you.
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When hiking with a group off trail (with the exception of desert terrain), don’t hike in a single file line, but disperse so that you do not create a new undesignated trail. A mid-size group can easily start a new trail if they stay in a single file line.
Popular outdoor spaces often see high use on weekends and holidays, so consider exploring during the week or times other than holidays. For some, having more people around takes away from the experience. For those who prefer a more natural experience, avoid the crowds and enjoy the sights, sounds, and senses of nature during times of low use.
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Always keep a boot brush in your car. After long days of hiking, all you want to do is sit back and relax on the ride back to your house—but you are not the only one. Species that are not native to where you live could be along for the ride. Make sure you brush off your boots before entering the vehicle, flaking away any seeds, spores, or critters that might be along for the ride.
National Training Guideline Updated to ensure a powerful educational experience and atmosphere.
Successful and effective Leave No Trace training has been achieved over the past 20 years by having consistent and comprehensive Training Guidelines. From the Master Educator Course and the Trainer Course to Awareness Workshops, the Training Guidelines ensure robust training opportunities for all Leave No Trace educators and course participants. The Center’s education staff conducts periodic reviews of the Training Guidelines to ensure they remain current, appropriate, and thorough. The most recent review revealed an area of the Leave No Trace Trainer Course that warranted further analysis. Since the development of the Training Guidelines, there were never a minimum number of participants required to have on Trainer Courses. As such, Trainer Courses were sometimes facilitated with as few as two participants. Through a comprehensive review of the educational efficacy of so few participants on a course, the Center determined that there needed to be a minimum threshold for Trainer Course participants in order to ensure a powerful educational experience and atmosphere. Therefore, the Center has updated the guidelines, which now require a minimum of four participants for Trainer Courses. According to Education Director, Ben Lawhon, the update was necessary to make Trainer Courses as effective as possible. “We know that having a minimum number of participants on a Trainer Course provides a better learning experience for all involved. It allows for diverse perspectives and more cross-pollination of ideas among the participants and instructors,” he says. While the new requirement applies to all Trainer Courses, the Center realizes that exceptions are sometimes warranted. This is reflected in the guidelines, which can be viewed online.
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Photo taken during a Master Educator course with Leave No Trace partner, O.A.R.S. on the Main Salmon River in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho.
Read the updated Training Guidelines here!
PRO SHOP SALE The Tech Tip Sticker Collection is on SALE through August! Tech Tip stickers are one of the best ways to convey the 7 principles of Leave No Trace without putting on an Awareness Workshop. The Tech Tip Sticker Collection contains 19 stickers that cover a range of backcountry impacts. Visually attractive and cleverly worded, these stickers are guaranteed to be a hit with park visitors, campers, and hikers of all ages.
Tech Tip Sticker Collection regularly $14.95, now $11.20 Click the picture to find them online!
EDUCATION IN MOTION
Boulder, CO: The Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers are conducting the following training events across the country this summer. We hope to see you at an event! Check out the Team Calendars — sort by team or by your state for the most up to date event listings. For more information about these or to attend, visit the event calendar. We hope to see you on the road!
Massachusetts: - Franklin Public Library, Franklin - Myles Standish State Forest, Carver New Mexico: - City of Rio Rancho Cabezon Kamp Rio, Rio Rancho - Cibola National Forest, Tijeras Ohio: - Appalachian Outfitters, Peninsula
California: - High Sierra Music Festival, Oregon: Quincy - Ragnar Trail Relay, Soda Springs - Memaloose State Park, Mosier - Tahoe City’s Concert at Commons Beach, Tahoe City - Adventure Dining Guide, Tahoe Colorado: - L.L. Bean, Lone Tree - Rockygrass Festival & Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, Lyons
Pennsylvania: - Stackhouse Park, Johnstown - Rock n River Fest, Delaware Water Gap - Women in the Wilds at Mt. Pisgah, Troy Utah: - Goal Zero, Park City - Summer Outdoor Retailer, Salt Lake City - La Sportiva Mountain Cup, Park City - Experticity, Salt Lake City - Fjall Raven, Salt Lake City West Virginia: - Outdoor Adventure Fest, Burnwood
Click here to view the full Team Calendars online!