The Leave No Trace principles might seem unimportant until you consider the combined effects of millions of outdoor visitors. One poorly located campsite or campfire may have little significance, but thousands of such instances seriously degrade the outdoor experience for all. Leaving no trace is everyones responsibility.
Instilling values in young people and preparing them to make 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 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 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.
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 friends 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.
The BSA is committed to Leave No Trace, which is a nationally recognized outdoor skills and ethics awareness program. Its seven principles are guidelines to follow at all times.
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 Other Visitors
(Click any guideline, above, to learn more. A printer-friendly version is also available for off-line study.)
Scouter and Venturing Leader Requirements
Download the application form [PDF - 384K] for the Leave No Trace Awareness Award. You will need Acrobat® Reader to view and print the form. This free software may be downloaded from Adobe.
| For more information, see Teaching Leave No Trace—an excellent resource for teaching the Leave No Trace principles to Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, and Venturers. |
More information about Leave No Trace can be obtained by contacting your local land manager or local office of the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the National Park Service, or the Fish and Wildlife Service. (Check the blue pages of your local telephone directory.) Or, contact Leave No Trace toll free at 800-332-4100 or on the Internet at http://www.LNT.org. For posters, plastic cards listing the Leave No Trace principles, or information on becoming a Leave No Trace sponsor, contact Leave No Trace Inc., P.O. Box 997, Boulder, CO 80306; phone 303-442-8222.
