Leave No Trace

I am an avid hiker and enjoy spending time outdoors. Most people who have spent time camping or hiking, especially in a national or state park probably has heard park rangers give lectures or have seen signs posted about "Leave No Trace Behind" practices. The concept is simple, enjoy the outdoors without leaving your mark on them. However, some people do not take all of their actions into consideration and consequently do leave traces in natural areas.

Leave No Trace does not only mean picking up your trash and discard it once you are near a trashbin, there is a lot more to it than picking up trash. The main points listed from the LNTB website are as follows:

• 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

In my experience, the two most abused practices are: leaving what you find and respecting the wildlife. Leaving what you find means not picking wildflowers or any other natural substances. These are meant to be observed not taken home with you. Outdoorists should be considerate enough to leave things for others to observe in their natural state as well. This is what your camera is for.

Respecting the Wildlife is the number one priority in my book. (probably because I want to be a wildlife biologist, just a guess) Last summer I had the oppurtunity to take the summer course Ecology of the Great Smoky Mountains here at AU. At the end of the course we took a week long hiking trip in the Smokies. This was a great experience for me. I was fortunate enough to encounter black bears almost everyday and also saw elk in the wild for the first time. Down there, the animals are used to being left alone by visitors and therefore, dont shy away from the presence of people. This allows for up close encounters, like when two black bears were foraging along an edgeline of the woods about 20-30 yards away from us. Two professional photographers were beside us and said they had been there all day taking pictures of these two bears. As the bears headed into the woods a person ran after them to get a picture. One of the photographers stopped him and explained that chasing a black bear was not a good idea and that he should be happy just to get a picture from 20 yards. I was so happy the photographer had the audacity to stop that man. That is just one example of people not giving animals their space. I believe that it is when people cross that threshold of wild animals that they will react towards their antagonist.

So the next time you go on vacation or are just taking a walk in your local park, please remember that you are walking through someone else's home. I encourage you to check out the Leave no trace behind website and put its practices into use!