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Leave No Trace & Outdoor Ethics

“On breking up camp leave two things behind you: 1-Nothing. 2-Your Thanks.” – Lord baden-Powell

About

Instilling values in young people and preparing them to make moral and ethical choices throughout their lifetime is the mission of the Boy Scouts of America. Leave No Trace helps reinforce that mission, and reminds us to respect the rights of other users of the outdoors as well as future generations. Appreciation for our natural environment and a knowledge of the interrelationships of nature bolster our respect and reverence toward the environment and nature.

Leave No Trace Awareness

Leave No Trace is an awareness and an attitude rather than a set of rules. It applies in your backyard or local park as much as in the backcountry. We should all practice Leave No Trace in our thinking and actions–wherever we go.

We learn Leave No Trace by sharing the principles and then discovering how they can be applied. Leave No Trace instills an awareness that spurs questions like “What can we do to reduce our impact on the environment and on the experiences of other visitors?” Use your resources, judgment and experience to tailor camping and hiking practices to the environment where the outing will occur. Forest, mountain, seashore, plains, freshwater, and wetland environments all require different minimum impact practices.

Outdoor Ethics

Help protect the backcountry by remembering that while you are there, you are a visitor. When you visit a friend, you take care to leave your friend’s home just as you found it. You would never think of trampling garden flowers, chopping down trees in the yard, putting soap in the drinking water, or marking your name on the living room wall. When you visit the backcountry, the same courtesies apply. Leave everything just as you found it.

Hiking and camping without a trace are signs of an expert outdoorsman, and of a Scout or Scouter who cares for the environment. Travel lightly on the land.

Resources

Contact

Carrie Hutchcraft
Program Assistant: Activities & Camping
carrie.hutchcraft@scouting.org

Leave No Trace Instructor Training

This course is for everyone age 14 and older who will teach Leave No Trace to others. Leave No Trace is integrated into every Scouting Program, every Pack, Troop, Crew, and Ship should have a Leave No Trace Trainer.

Who should attend? Venturers, Sea Scouts, and Scouts BSA aged 14 and older holding or wanting to hold the Outdoor Ethics Guide position of responsibility; adult Cub Scout, Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Sea Scout leaders; and District and Council leaders and trainers. Camp Staff encouraged to attend!

Participants learn Leave No Trace principles, skills, and ethics through a combination of presentation, discussion, and hands-on activities. They learn and practice techniques for teaching these concepts. Those completing the course will be Leave No Trace Trainers, recognized by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics.

Upcoming Trainings

Click on the event to learn more & register.

Impact for Generations.
Prepared for Life.

This is more than a motto. It is a manifesto. It is our promise to the community and to every parent and child who Scouts with us. By Scouting in the Cascade Pacific Council (CPC) of Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America), every youth can learn to make an impact on the world around them and be more prepared for career and life.

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