Leave No Trace

[Lear]

Be a role model for others, carry out ANY trash you find wherever you find it. I went out with a guide last y (Blue Ridge Hiking) and that's what he did for three days.

[Gritty]

"...carry out ANY trash you find wherever you find it..." .... "Wherever"? .... I do admire your intention Lear, and please, dont take this as a personal attack, but, nobel sounding as your post is, it is not always realistic. Case in point, yesterday I hiked a 15 mile section of the Florida Trail that took me through the Osceola National Forest. The trail was pristine until I got within 100 yards of the Cobb Camp Campground which is loaded at this time of year with Florida Trail hikers, hunters, weekend tent campers, and full time transient tent campers. The 100 or so yards of the trail closest to the campground was littered with toilet paper adorned with .... yeah. No attempt whatsoever at digging a cat hole, not attempt whatsoever at going a respectful distance off the trail, not attempt whatsoever at "packing it out". Sorry, there is no way in HELL I am picking that up (10 or 12 different piles, some of it still steaming fresh ) and packing it 100 yards PAST THE CAMP GROUND PROVIDED PORTA POTTIES to the camp ground provided trash receptacles! Yeah... perhaps this is a "project" our friend Dogwood may want to explore. Come to Florida and teach these Bud Lite swilling rednecks how to properly poop in the woods, Dogwood!

[Dogwood]

Hi Dogwood, I understand what you are saying and agree. What I was trying to relay in my post is LNT has an image problem with many new hikers. I was relaying how I was exposed to LNT during my AT thru.

For newer hikers, just exposed to LNT on trail by posted literature and those who are more exposed to LNT willing to speak out (not any awareness classes), even though LNT is guidelines, it is viewed as rules - this is what they take away and are turned off by it.

This is view is further enforced by other, more experienced hikers who know LNT, because they often state it as rules, and often in a 'holier than thou' accusatory manner, earning then the term 'LNT nazi's' and that LNT is a religion to them. These people do more to harm LNT image and would be better off keeping their mouth shut till they learn land stewardship and what it really means. It is working together, and not accusing, not shoving guidelines in someone's face as if it were rules in stone handing down by God.

Finally I have heard it said that even the name LNT is a impossible standard to reach, we are going to leave some trace just because we are there, even if is footprints. So we are always behind, always a problem, and never shown to be a solution.

Combining LNT with land stewardship shows the reason and origin of LNT and greatly helps hikers trained in both to relay LNT in a much more positive way, since the underlying principles of LNT are placed as primary and original (predating LNT), and places LNT correctly as a guideline, and the heart is the origin. It also helps when a situation comes up beyond the guidelines for LNT.

Great post. Well said. Nice clarification of intent and expression of deeper observations without a contentious self righteous or imposing attitude. Thank you for engaging in give and take conversation where parties are adding to the breadth of the topic. Fresh air.

[Lear]

LNT is a world of it's own. " carrying out ANY trash you find wherever you find it," is a bit absolute. My intention was to introduce something that people can do to make the trail a better" place for everyone and to encourage other to do the same. I probably wouldn't tidy up around a camp ground in FL and I doubt the aforementioned guide would either.

Main point is that there are people out there who are picking up after others without being told and that this behavior is probably the best way to encourage others to respect a communal trail in the wilderness. It certainly made an IMPACT on me.

[jekerdud]

Don't kill anything living (plants too!)

Except ticks. I am completely fine with killing every one of those that I catch on me. Mice might be a close second.

I don't see how it's that hard for people to follow. Pocket, or bag, your trash (and cigarette butts for the smokers) throw it away in town, bury your poop, don't chop down anything that is still living. Not complicated, people.

[Another Kevin]

I try to set a good example for LNT behaviour, and have pretty much internalized the LNT message for a long time.

That said, I think that some of the LNT literature dilutes the message. It mixes the big important things that beginners need to know (pack out everything you pack in, practice good sanitation, don't cut living vegetation, don't camp by water ...) with subtler points that are more situational and obviously more arguable (Rubber tips on trekking poles always? Really? Have you guys ever hiked in winter? Those scratches on the rock are from crampons!) or even almost silly (Wear only muted colors? In a forest where you're lucky if you have a hundred-foot sight line? Makes sense in a desert or above treeline, where you could be wrecking someone else's view, but in our tangled vegetation, who cares?)

Those subtle points are fine to bring up for discussion, and we do well to consider whether we're damaging the trail surface with pointy stuff or spoiling a view, but they're surely not hard-and-fast rules, and have an impact on personal safety. There's no way that I won't wear orange in hunting season, or use sharp poles whenever I feel the need. Abandoning my body in the woods would surely be a violation of LNT.

There are always some hikers who go to the woods to get away from all the rules, and will display disdain for any attempt to impose any sort of order. The sort who will throw their trash right under a "IF YOU PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT" sign to display their contempt, or burn a "NO FIRES" sign. The sort who have actually thrown their empties at me while I was cleaning up on a trail, "haw, haw, look at the garbage man!" I don't know what to do about that particular population. Retroactive postnatal abortion isn't lawful, I'm afraid. But LNT education isn't the solution to that problem, either.