Environment and Ecology News

Every month we’re offering new Bigfoot Challenges – an easy way for you to get involved and demonstrate your commitment to responsible recreation. You can participate each month and you’ll have the opportunity to win great outdoor gear prizes every time you pledge to Leave No Trace – just like Bigfoot!

1. Take the Leave No Trace online Awareness Course and invite others (friends, family, coworkers) to do the same.
2. Earth Day is next month. Find an event in your area and get involved. Volunteer, participate, take action.
3. Ensure your computer’s energy saver power settings are enabled right now.
4. Write why your individual membership to Leave No Trace is important to you and email it to the Center at sara@LNT.org (mailto:sara@LNT.org).

And if you haven't seen it yet, visit the Bigfoot Challenge page on our website, with new animation provided by Leave No Trace member, Dave Titus!

Dear Education Department,

I was writing to inquire about your grants and scholarship programs. I volunteer for a youth-serving organization in my community and am interested in using some of your teaching resources to teach my kids about Leave No Trace. We have an overnight camping trip coming up later this spring and we have a limited budget for the program. I had looked into your grants and scholarships program earlier in the year, but it didn’t look like the deadlines were posted. Can you provide me with an update or suggest other resources that I can use?

Sincerely,

Community Leader

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Dear Community Leader,

Thank you for your email! We always enjoy hearing about the great work that individuals are doing in their communities on behalf of the Leave No Trace program. Thanks for checking back in about the grants and scholarships. We did make recent changes, so here is an update on deadlines:

• Tools for Teaching: April 1, July 1 and October 1, 2010;
• Master Educator Scholarships: April 1 and August 1, 2010;
• Packing with PEAK: June 1, 2010;
• Connect Grants for Culturally Diverse Communities: June 1, 2010.

Please make note of this update from our Grants and Scholarships page:

Due to funding, limited grants will be awarded in 2010. Please refer to the specific grant that you are applying for to determine application deadlines. Apply for a grant only if your project fits into the designated timeline. At this time, the Center is not accepting applications for grants that serve the international community.

With that in mind, the Center has a number of other free resources that could benefit your community programs:

1) Educational and Training Resources Pages with materials you can download

2) PEAK and Teen program pages with activities you can download

3) Online Awareness Course to take from anywhere, anytime

4) YouTube Page with online instructional videos

Keep in mind that a Leave No Trace lesson could be as simple as a discussion while you are packing bags for a hiking or camping trip. We appreciate all your support and hard work and look forward to working with you in the future.

Sincerely,

The Education Department

On March 5th and 6th we attended the Five Rivers Metro Parks Adventure Summit in Dayton, OH. The Adventure Summit is an event celebrating the spirit of outdoor adventure by showcasing the vibrant lifestyle and culture of human powered endeavors through inspiration, education, and experience. And inspired we were! The keynote speaker Charlie Engle captivated the audience by expanding upon his simple motto “Do Something Now!”

Charlie Engle is an elite adventurer who has pushes himself beyond his limits. In 2007, he challenged himself to run across the entirety of the Sahara Desert- a 4600 mile expedition. His experience was captured in the documentary “Running the Sahara”. At the Adventure Summit, he spoke about this experience and the difference it made in his life. His motto “Do Something Now” reminded us to take action in our lives. Whether we challenge ourselves to try an adventure race, a new outdoor activity, or make a difference in your community, we can all do something now!

One of the perks of our job as Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers is attending events where amazing people come to speak. We get the opportunity to learn and experience from some of the best in the outdoor industry. We are continuously inspired and rejuvenated by the energy of these people. With Spring right around the corner, we encourage you to step up to the challenge, where ever the road may take you!

Happy Adventuring,

Kate and Tracy

From The Daily Camera:
Sometime this spring -- amid the usual bikers, joggers and amblers -- an odd looking tricycle will roll down the Boulder Creek Path snapping 360-degree photos as it goes.

With 21,000 votes, the Boulder Creek Path won a contest Monday to become one of the first off-road locations visited by the new Google Street View Trike, a cross between a mountain bike and trailer with a camera mounted on a pole in the back.

The trike will allow Google to complement its popular Street View function -- which gives users an on-the-ground perspective through their computer screens, including a look at store fronts, street signs and yards -- with a "path view" for places where cars can't go.

"We're very excited," said Marni Ratzel, bicycle and transportation planner for the city's Go Boulder program. "I think it's great for our residents as well as for tourists who come to Boulder to see this great amenity that we have. They can do that virtually prior to coming, and they can show their friends after they've been there.

"It's just a really cool tool."

The Boulder Creek Path beat out four other finalists in Google's parks and trails category -- the Capital Crescent Trail in Maryland and Washington, D.C.; the Centennial Trail in Washington; the Schuylkill River Trail in Pennsylvania; and the Stevens Creek Trail in California -- to win a visit from the trike.

The strong support for Boulder's trail, which amounted to more than one vote for every five city residents, may have had something to do with the staffers in Google's Boulder office.

"I think they did some work to get the vote out," said Elaine Filadelfo, Google spokeswoman. "They did some grassroots campaigning, I would say."

And while Google typically hires contractors to ride the trike, the company is looking at recruiting some of the avid cyclists who already work for Google in Boulder for the job, Filadelfo said.

The city of Boulder hopes that the trike's ride through Boulder marks the beginning of a deeper relationship between the city and Google's mapping programs. The city has applied to share data about its extensive bike path system with Google as a Base Map Partner.

If the city's proposal is accepted, people will be able to get directions for traveling in Boulder from Google Maps that are tailored for bikes, routing cyclists along multi-use paths and roads with bike lanes. The city already has its own mapping software at gobikeboulder.net that does just that, but if Boulder can partner with Google, Go Boulder staffers hope that even more people will take advantage of the 360 miles of local bike routes.

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Bike paths are a great way to enjoy the outdoors. They are an accessible and fun option for families to explore their neighborhood. Keep the Leave No Trace Frontcountry principles in mind as you travel on bike paths like the Boulder Creek Path.

One of the many pleasures of our job as Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers is to facilitate trainer courses all over the lower 48 states. Last year we trained over 100 people during our ten months on the road. The above picture displays the zest that participants bring to the courses. This year we hope to train even more people. We are kicking the 2010 season off in full force as we are preparing for three trainer courses over the next two weeks!
If you are curious if there is a trainer course coming up in your area, check out the Community Page. Click on your state and nearby surrounding states to locate any trainer courses and awareness workshops that will be happening near you.
Do you know of 5-12 people that would be interested in a trainer course? You can request a visit from the Traveling Trainers to come to your area. Currently, we are taking requests for June-November 2010. We would appreciate the opportunity to work with you!
Happy Adventuring...Kate and Tracy

In an interesting merge of nature and technology researchers from Ohio State were able to determine the geological effects of the February 27th earthquake in Chile using GPS units.
GPS measurements before and after the earthquake revealed that the town of Conception, the epicenter, moved nearly 10 ft to the west, while the larger city of Santiago moved over a foot.
For more information, please refer to this article: Chilean Earthquake
Historically used for scientific purposes, GPS units are a hot topic in the outdoor recreation world, with the increasing number of people worldwide participating in the activity of geocaching - similar to a treasure hunt - by which participants find caches based on GPS coordinates. Sometimes these caches are man-made, sometimes they are nature-based (a beautiful waterfall for example).
Thousands of caches are found in cities worldwide; an interesting (and peripheral) effect of a natural event like an earthquake, would be the shifting of these published geocaching coordinates.
For more information about geocaching, visit: http://www.geocaching.com/
The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics recently began publishing educational materials that promote responsible enjoyment of this activity. For more information, please contact us.

This weekend we attended the Subaru Master the Mountain event at Mountain High Resort. Each winter season, the Subaru Master the Mountain team travels to ski resorts across the country bringing music, giveaways, and free activities for people to enjoy. Skiers have the opportunity to demo the latest Nordica skis, hone their skills with free ski and snowboard lessons, check out the latest film from MSP Films, In Deep: The Skiing Experience, test drive a Subaru, and of course learn about Leave No Trace.


We had participants provide their best guesses for the decomposition rates of common trash items and awarded small prizes. In this photo, the Mt. High Ski and Snowboard School instructors celebrate their correct answer.


Gratefully we received a sprinkling of fresh snow and a little bit of sunshine over the course of the weekend. Thanks to Subaru for putting on such a great event!

All the best....

Agata and Jason

Do you have a great idea for new Leave No Trace educational or promotional items? The Center is always looking for new ideas when it comes to our Educational materials and Promotional items. Many of our best ideas have come from our passionate community of volunteers, educators and supporters. What one or two items would you like to see us consider adding?

This past weekend we attended the fifth annual 5 Rivers Metro Parks Adventure Summit. The mission of the event is to celebrate the spirit of outdoor adventure by showcasing the vibrant lifestyle and culture of human powered endeavors through inspiration, education, and experience. Leave No Trace was a natural fit for this event. Thousands of people from the 5 Rivers area gathered at Wright State University to express their enthusiasm for outdoor recreation. The energy charged weekend was full of exhibitors, competitions, and motivational speakers.
While on the road, we take advantage of every opportunity to meet and thank key Leave No Trace volunteers. Indiana State Advocate Douglas Wagoner was in attendance promoting upcoming trainer courses that he is teaching through his organization Green Earth Outdoors. We would like to thank Douglas and all of the volunteers that donate their time to enhance the Leave No Trace program. The Summit has grown tremendously since 2006. The Dayton, Ohio area is emerging as the "Adventure Capital of the Midwest," so if you ever have the chance to pass through this part of the country, be sure to step outside and experience what the area has to offer!
Happy Adventuring...Kate and Tracy

Company: Sauce For A Cause (aka. SFAC)
Website: www.sauceforacause.com
Hometown: Boulder, CO
Motto: All Natural Gluten-Free Gourmet Sauce for an active Lifestyle!

Mission: “To simply create the best all-natural, gluten-free, gourmet sauces, while improving the well-being of the world around us."

Why Sauce For A Cause: Sauce For A Cause makes the best all natural, gluten-free, gourmet sauces. Our sauces include: Tangy Tangerine BBQ, Mango Mint, Not Your Traditional Ketchup, and Gourmet Mustard. Each of these sauces is a unique recipe created by the founder, Alex Mitchell.

Sauce For A Cause began in Boulder, CO in the kitchen of Alex Mitchell. He was just finishing up his degree in Art History and wondering what adventure was to come next. He always loved to experiment in the kitchen. He has especially loved making barbecue sauce ever since his grandfather taught him how to make it as a kid. (Since then no one has been able to stop Alex from putting barbecue sauce on almost everything he eats.) Upon graduating, he decided to perfect his barbecue sauce recipe. Experimenting in the kitchen led to other yummy sauces. After being put through more taste test sessions than they could imagine, Alex decided to take his family and friends seriously when they told him he was really on to something. That is when he decided to start bottling it. Being the paragliding, world traveling, ambitious person he is, Alex did not take presenting his sauce to the world lightly. Less than a year later, we are proud to present you with Sauce For A Cause.

What does Sauce For A Cause do for the environment? We strive to find the best packaging we can. The bottles are an innovative package that is eco-friendly, space saving, and great for taking anywhere you want them to go. The packages are more like a pouch, made from recycled materials and could be reused in all sorts of creative ways.

Not only is it important to us to bring you the best products, but also to make a true difference. That is why Sauce For A Cause donates fifty-percent of its proceeds to five carefully selected causes: Life Straw, Friends of the World Food Program, Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, Cancer and Flight for Life Colorado.

Sauce For A Cause & Leave No Trace: Sauce For A Cause Is honored to work with Leave No Trace. We are strong supporters and believe strongly in the program, and the partnership with the REI peak program. As a past instructor of the peak program and Leave No Trace, trainer Alex Mitchell is all about getting kids playing outside and away from video games. Everybody should know the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace!

Interested in learning more? Visit the Sauce For A Cause website, or join them on Facebook!

For more on Partnerships with Leave No Trace, visit our Partnership page or contact Sara@LNT.org.

"One gave life to many and one found life in the wilderness," the Rev. Henry Parsley, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, said during his invocation at Judson College - talking about the two inductees Midwife Margaret Charles Smith and Mary Burks.

Check out the article about Mary Burk's induction into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in today's Montgomery Advertiser

Here are articles I wrote about Mary shortly after her passing.

http://www.bamanews.com/2007/03/mary-burks.html

http://www.bamanews.com/2008/11/birmingham-news-commentary-11-30-2008.html

Wrapping up a month long visit to southern California we are fortunate to have worked with the Adventure Club at Lincoln High School in San Diego, California. This group is supported by CONNECT grant recipient Outdoor Outreach to bring outdoor recreational opportunities to youth in diverse communities throughout the San Diego area.

The group was very enthusiastic about the Leave No Trace program and had an enjoyable time working through activities such as Minimum Impact Match and the Leave What You Find drawing activity to demonstrate their grasp of the information we discussed.

The group was very animated about their sense of stewardship for public lands and overall commitment to the responsible enjoyment of outdoor recreation. We would like to send our appreciation to the staff at Outdoor Outreach for the opportunity to work with such awesome students and we are looking forward to seeing them all again in the future.

All the best,

Agata and Jason

The American Alpine Club is hosting a conference on waste removal in the backcountry in July. Exit Strategies-Managing Human Waste in the Wild, July 30-31st and August 1st, 2010.

The American Alpine Club is inviting top land managers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and wilderness participants from around the globe to discuss and formulate strategies for managing human waste in remote areas. The Exit Strategies conference will include general/plenary sessions, poster presentations, field-proven techniques and opportunities for focused problem solving. To create a productive setting in which participants can spark important conversations, explore innovative ideas, and develop effective solutions, the conference will be limited to 100 attendees. More information and registration can be found here: http://www.americanalpineclub.org/exitstrategies.

It's about that time of year for campgrounds across the country to open for the season. Today marked the annual Leisure Systems Inc. Campground Association for Recreation Education (CARE) conference. Over 75 recreation directors, campground owners and managers from Jellystone Parks gathered in Covington, KY to get tips on creating fantastic camping experiences for families. We were invited to speak at the conference and highlight the new partnership between Jellystone Parks and the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. During our 4 hour presentation, the participants were eager to learn about the programs that the Center will be able to offer to their campgrounds all over the US and Canada. We are looking forward to building this partnership throughout the year, as the Traveling Trainers and the e-tour will be visiting some of the Jellystone Parks. Keep your eyes out for us, Yogi, Boo-boo, and all their friends this summer! A special thanks to Kelly Jones for inviting us to be a part of the conference!Happy Adventuring...Kate and Tracy

The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative is a non-profit organization partnered with the USFS, Leave No Trace, and others whose mission is to preserve and protect the fourteen thousand foot peaks in Colorado through active stewardship and public education. CFI’s Peak Stewards are a group of enthusiastic volunteers who are trained to monitor high-use Fourteeners. Peak Stewards document human and wildlife encounters, user behaviors, compliance with Forest Service regulations, and trail and resource conditions.

Peak Stewards also initiate contact with other climbers when appropriate, and provide educational information about Fourteener-specific Leave No Trace principles for Colorado’s alpine environment. Once trained, Peak Stewards will commit to volunteering a minimum of four days throughout the summer.



Peak Steward Training #2 will be at the Boulder REI from 9:30-3:30, Sunday March 7th. We have the Community Room (big glass room in the center of the store) reserved and plenty of space. Please contact Brian at 303-278-7650 or email to brian@14ers.org for more information or to sign up for the training.

Outdoor Educators, around the world, are incorporating Leave No Trace education into their work. The following is an except from a recent letter of Savas Baran from the Scouting and Guiding Federation of Turkey:

We succesfully made our first Leave no trace awareness Workshop.
We had 14 participants who were very eager on the subject.

Date: / February 2010 Location Cankaya youth Center Ankara Turkey Intended Audience Group and troop Guide (/Girl scout) and Scout leaders and trainers Cost Free Decription Leave no trace presentation in Turkish presented Gear (If applicable) A CD presented to be used in their work Contact/Registration Information U. Savas Baran
Thank you for giving this opportuniity to our Guides and Scouts
Kindest regards
U. Savas Baran
Scout leader.
Ankara Guides and Scouts
The Scouting and Guiding Federation of Turkey

On Thursday of last week, we met with a Wildlife Conservation and Management class offered through the Regional Occupation Program (ROP) at the LA Fairplex in Pomona, CA. The ROP offers classroom experience and community-based internships to prepare students for industry-specific employment requirements. During the workshop, we introduced the 17 students to the Leave No Trace program by facilitating several activities including How Long Does it Last and Minimum Impact Match. Since these students will be going on an overnight trip in a couple of weeks and camping without any facilities, we discussed the significance of 200ft. in terms of disposing of human waste and camping away from water sources and trails. We also had the students break up into groups and perform a short skit on each of the seven principles of Leave No Trace.

All the best,

Agata and Jason

We arrived at Lake Barkley State Resort Park in Kentucky yesterday to gear up for the Outdoor Ethics Conference that is being held here this week. After taking in the splendors of this park (hiking trails, fitness facilities, bird watching, and enjoying our morning coffee on our private waterfront balcony), we were amazed at all of the recreational opportunities this park has to offer. It is truly a 'resort park'. Lake Barkley is one of the two lakes that surrounds the beautiful Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. We had the opportunity to host a workshop for staff from Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky State Parks, and the Army Corps of Engineers this morning at Lake Barkley SRP. During the workshop, we introduced the Leave No Trace program and had some great discussions about impacts that are seen in these areas and how educating visitors with the Leave No Trace information can help to mitigate some of these impacts. In the photo above, Kate is leading the activity "The Ethics Game", one of our favorites. This was a great platform for the park staff to share how they are impacted by some of the issues that are seen in the outdoors and how that relates to their personal ethic. Through these healthy discussions, the group realized the importance of education in the outdoors. We are looking forward to speaking tomorrow at the conference to staff from the USDA Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Army Corp of Engineers, and Tread Lightly. This will be an impressive meeting of the minds!Happy Adventuring...Kate and Tracy

From Environmental New Network: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is acting to remove Endangered Species Act protection from Arizona's desert nesting bald eagles. "We conclude that the best information available does not indicate that persistence in the ecosystem of the Sonoran Desert Area is important to the species as a whole," the new Fish and Wildlife decision states. But no recognized bald eagle expert agrees with that assertion, as no expert agreed with the Service’s earlier 2007 decision to remove protection. "The science and the law have not changed, but sadly, neither have the politics," says Dr. Robin Silver with the Center for Biological Diversity. "If the decision stands, it will be a death sentence for our desert nesting bald eagles. We're anxious to get back into court to save these magnificent birds."

Read full story here.

For more information on desert nesting bald eagles, visit http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/desert_nesting_bald_eagle/

Burks, Smith join legendary women
Tuscaloosa News (subscription)
While she tried and failed to have the Cahaba River designated a National Wild and Scenic River, Burks' efforts were crucial in passing the “US Eastern ...