Image from the National Park Service's page.
"Leave No Trace" is everywhere in the outdoors: on campground signs and park brochures, on wilderness permits and in ranger talks, alongside sayings like "pack it in, pack it out" and "take only photos." It has become so familiar that it is easy to forget not everyone knows what it means. If a ranger has ever sent you off with "Remember to Leave No Trace" and you weren't sure what to do with that, this is for you.
What it is
Leave No Trace is a set of principles that help people who visit the outdoors leave nature as unchanged by their presence as possible, so that outdoor places stay enjoyable for generations to come. It is at once a set of guidelines for protecting the places we live in and visit, a set of actions anyone can take to be a better steward of the land, and a movement anyone can join.
There are seven principles. Together they describe the ways visitors can affect an ecosystem and, based on scientific research, the best ways to keep that effect small. They are maintained by the Leave No Trace organization, which keeps researching and updating them and runs education programs across the United States.
The seven principles
- 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 others.
The principles help reduce our effect on the land, on wildlife and on other people, and they matter as much on a neighborhood trail as in a favorite national park.
National Park Service / M. Reed.
What counts as an impact
An impact is any way outdoor recreation damages or changes a place: harm to wildlife, soil, plants, water, cultural resources or other visitors. One person's footprint may be hard to see, but thousands of people may visit the same spot every day, and it is these cumulative impacts, adding up over time, that visibly change the health of an ecosystem.
Everyone's relationship with the outdoors is different, and different places and activities call for practicing the principles in different ways. That is why the seven principles are a framework for reducing impacts in any situation rather than a rulebook.
Putting it into practice
Leave No Trace is exactly that, a practice. It is not about being perfect but about doing the best you can as often as you can, whether in your backyard, your neighborhood or on a long trip. Staying on the marked trail is Leave No Trace. So is packing out all your trash, orange peels included. Talk about it with friends and family, and make it part of planning your trips. Natural places are shared by everyone, and everyone can help look after them.
Pass it on
Nobody can be an expert in everything, which is why sharing what you know matters. The next time someone looks puzzled at the words "Leave No Trace," explain them.
Sources
- National Park Service, "I Didn't Know That!: Leave No Trace," part of the I Didn't Know That! series, developed in collaboration with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/idkt_lnt.htm
- Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics: https://lnt.org. The series' shareable infographic, made with that organization, is not reproduced here.
In these publicationsI Didn't Know That! Leave No Trace
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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