Recreate Responsibly Campaign

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives and caused a great deal of uncertainty, including how we get outdoors. 

We’ve all been looking for advice on how to get outside, and now we have answers from the Recreate Responsibly Coalition. 

Following these new guidelines will help avoid further outbreaks and keep our parks, trails, and beaches open to the public. 

As you get back out there, the #RecreateResponsibly guidelines will also help you be prepared in any situation you encounter, such as an unexpected trailhead closure or lack of available restroom facilities. 

Help the #RecreateResponsibly guidelines reach far and wide. Share your commitment to #RecreateResponsibly by using the hashtag on social media. Or use the toolkit available on the website to share the guidelines on your social media channels.

#RecreateResponsibly #LeaveNoTrace #BePrepared

Leave No Trace, Leave No Boots

Imagine getting a whiff of these while enjoying a walk in the woods. Did you know that rubber boot soles can take 50 years or more to decompose? Trash left in the woods can stick around for a long time and definitely won’t walk off on its own. 

Do your part by making sure you pack out everything you bring with you. Disposing of your trash properly today can help our backcountry beautiful for the next 50 years and beyond! 

#OnePlanet #EnjoyYourWorld #LeaveNoTrace

Leave No Trace Volunteer State Advocates

Image Credit: Leave No Trace Center For Outdoor Ethics

Volunteer State Advocates are the driving force of the Leave No Trace movement in their state. Each year, these individuals dedicate thousands of hours to teaching Leave No Trace and stewardship of the outdoors to the various communities in their state.

Interested in helping to support the Leave No Trace efforts in your state? Click here to contact your State Advocate today.

#LeaveNoTrace #OnePlanet #OneHome #OutdoorLife

Leave No Trace In A Time Of COVID-19

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics aligns with the CDC recommendations to help slow the spread of the virus. Let’s keep ourselves, our communities, and our natural world safe and healthy during this time.

It is important to be aware of the most current information from the CDC on these changes, and that goes for changes to the way we spend time outside as well.

We will see you out there on the other side!

#LeaveNoTrace #OnePlanet #OneHome 

#COVID19 #DuringATimeOfPlague

Desperate Times Call for Leave No Trace Measures

Four Leave No Trace Musts for the Government Shutdown

You've read the disturbing stories reported from our national parks, now that the partial government shutdown has moved into January. The situation is serious—wildlife picking through bins piled high with trash, latrines overflowing with waste and unfettered off-roading in fragile ecosystems. With 85% of National Park Service employees furloughed, rescue services are limited and maintenance continues to be deferred. 

Please consider these recommendations for the duration of the shutdown from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics:

1. Develop a Plan B: Choose an alternative to national parks and other federal lands if it is at all possible. The country has many vast and sweeping state parks and municipal lands, many adjacent or nearby. So if you can, give our national lands a breather. 

2. Pack Out ALL Trash: Plan ahead and prepare takes on an elevated meaning during the shutdown. Make sure that you equip yourself with extra bags for any potential trash that you generate and plan to remove all of it from the park. Pack out trash left behind by others to lessen potential impacts on wildlife and waterways, and the environment in general. 

3. It's Time To Try: Given that many restroom facilities on federal lands are closed or already compromised, the use of biodegradable, disposable toilet-in-a-bag-type products is essential. 

Even if it has never been in your repertory, this is a tremendously important commitment you must make to protect wildlife, water sources, and fellow users. 

Contact your local outdoor retailer and ask if they have Restop, Clean Waste or comparable products so you can pack out your human waste. 

4. Share Well With Others: With a lack of critical personnel on site are areas, many visitors will not receive important Leave No Trace information they would otherwise absorb from rangers. 

Share Leave No Trace principles far and wide with those around you. You may find that people are very receptive to hearing from you during the shutdown. 

Most importantly, if you are enjoying federal lands, do so with a gentle touch. All of us hope, for the sake of our beloved outdoors, that the shutdown ends soon. If it continues, we will share more information with you about efforts to help by our thousands of passionate members and partners. 

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics supplies dome of the best information to help you make good decisions about enjoying our shared lands responsibly during this precarious time.

Go to: Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics

The Camas Centre, Ross of Mull, Scotland

In the summer of 1989 I took my first steps down the track to Camas Tuath, they were not my last either, and part of me has never left. Being at the Camas Centre, and on Iona, that summer transformed my view of the world as a young man and those initial experiences continue to shape my approach to outdoor learning, even now.

It was in these places I discovered the joy of working in remote settings and real community living. I was able to reflect upon ways my faith could grow and was equipped with the means to understand my own spirituality as I progressed in life. These experiences and subsequent times spent at Camas inspired my career choices to become an outdoor educator.

The Camas Centre plays a crucial role in the lives of the young people and adults that visit the centre, by offering them the opportunity to see core-values being lived out on a daily basis via the resident team, thus enabling them to manage any future tides of change in a positive way, by modeling what they experience at the centre.

And regardless of how we use it to promote aspects of social learning, being at Camas also helps us all embrace good environmental stewardship to preserve what there is to enjoy by simply being there. The sense of connection with nature that is achieved by working on the land, exploring the water, and the shared enjoyment of Camas is both powerful and transformative.

I firmly believe that participating in a week of community living at Camas can act as a catalyst for change within an individual by creating a sense of connection with and an awareness of others as well as the environment in which we live together.

Go to: The Camas Centre

#LifeIsPrecious #Camas #Adventure