LEAVE NO TRACE

The BSA is committed to Leave No Trace, which is a nationally recognized outdoor skills and ethics awareness program. Its seven principles are guidelines to follow at all times.

On-Line resources: http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/resources/21-105/ - http://www.LNT.org

1. Plan Ahead and Prepare

Proper trip planning and preparation helps hikers and campers accomplish trip goals safely and enjoyably while minimizing damage to natural and cultural resources. Campers who plan ahead can avoid unexpected situations, and minimize their impact by complying with area regulations such as observing limitations on group size. Schedule your trek to avoid times of high use. Obtain permits or permission to use the area for your trek.

Proper planning ensures

2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

Damage to land occurs when visitors trample vegetation or communities of organisms beyond recovery. The resulting barren areas develop into undesirable trails, campsites, and soil erosion.

Concentrate Activity, or Spread Out?

3. Dispose of Waste Properly (Pack It In, Pack It Out)

This simple yet effective saying motivates backcountry visitors to take their trash home with them. It makes sense to carry out of the backcountry the extra materials taken there by your group or others. Inspect your campsite for trash or spilled foods. Accept the challenge of packing out all trash, leftover food, and litter.

Sanitation - Backcountry users create body waste and wastewater that require proper disposal.

Wastewater. Help prevent contamination of natural water sources: After straining food particles, properly dispose of dishwater by dispersing at least 200 feet (about 80 to 100 strides for a youth) from springs, streams, and lakes. Use biodegradable soap 200 feet or more from any water source.

Human Waste. Proper human waste disposal helps prevent the spread of disease and exposure to others. Catholes 6 to 8 inches deep in humus and 200 feet from water, trails, and campsites are often the easiest and most practical way to dispose of feces.

4. Leave What You Find

Allow others a sense of discovery, and preserve the past. Leave rocks, plants, animals, archaeological artifacts, and other objects as you find them. Examine but do not touch cultural or historical structures and artifacts. It may be illegal to remove artifacts.

Minimize Site Alterations

Do not dig tent trenches or build lean-tos, tables, or chairs. Never hammer nails into trees, hack at trees with hatchets or saws, or damage bark and roots by tying horses to trees for extended periods. Replace surface rocks or twigs that you cleared from the campsite. On high-impact sites, clean the area and dismantle inappropriate user-built facilities such as multiple fire rings and log seats or tables.

Good campsites are found, not made. Avoid altering a site, digging trenches, or building structures.

5. Minimize Campfire Impacts

Some people would not think of camping without a campfire. Yet the naturalness of many areas has been degraded by overuse of fires and increasing demand for firewood.

Lightweight camp stoves make low-impact camping possible by encouraging a shift away from fires. Stoves are fast, eliminate the need for firewood, and make cleanup after meals easier. After dinner, enjoy a candle lantern instead of a fire.

If you build a fire, the most important consideration is the potential for resource damage. Whenever possible, use an existing campfire ring in a well-placed campsite. Choose not to have a fire in areas where wood is scarce—at higher elevations, in heavily used areas with a limited wood supply, or in desert settings.

True Leave No Trace fires are small. Use dead and downed wood that can be broken easily by hand. When possible, burn all wood to ash and remove all unburned trash and food from the fire ring. If a site has two or more fire rings, you may dismantle all but one and scatter the materials in the surrounding area. Be certain all wood and campfire debris is dead out.

6. Respect Wildlife

Quick movements and loud noises are stressful to animals. Considerate campers practice these safety methods:

7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors


Leave No Trace Award:

Scout and Venturer Requirements

  1. Recite and explain the principles of Leave No Trace.
  2. On three separate camping/backpacking trips demonstrate and practice the principles of Leave No Trace.
  3. Earn the Camping and Environmental Science merit badges, or do No. 3 under the Scouter requirements.
  4. Participate in a Leave No Trace related service project.
  5. Give a 10-minute presentation on a Leave No Trace topic approved by your Scoutmaster.
  6. Draw a poster or build a model to demonstrate the differences in how we camp or travel in high-use and pristine areas.

Scouter and Venturing Leader Requirements

  1. Recite and explain the principles of Leave No Trace.
  2. On three separate camping/backpacking trips demonstrate and practice the principles of Leave No Trace.
  3. Share with another Scouter or Venturing leader your understanding and knowledge of the Camping and Environmental Science merit badge pamphlets.
  4. Actively assist (training, advice, and general supervision) a Scout in planning, organizing, and leading a service project related to Leave No Trace.
  5. Assist a minimum of three Scouts in earning the Leave No Trace Awareness Award.
  6. Plan and conduct a Leave No Trace awareness for Scouts, Venturers, Scouters, or an interested group outside Scouting.


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