Leave No Trace

Our Obligation to the Environment

Leave No Trace (LNT) refers to a set of outdoor ethics and also to a nonprofit organization that teaches those principles. Leave No Trace principles are designed to promote conservation in the outdoors. The organization Leave No Trace (http://www.lnt.org) exists to educate people about their recreational impact on nature as well as the principles of Leave No Trace to prevent and minimize such impacts.

Leave No Trace is built on 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, and Be Considerate of Other Visitors. The Seven Principles have been adapted to different activities, ecosystems and environments.  (source = Wikipedia).

What does LNT mean to Scouts?

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 everyone's responsibility and scouts can be excellent stewards of the environment.  [Source = www.scouting.org] 

Awareness

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 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.

"What can we do to reduce our impact on the environment and on the experiences of other visitors?" 

Basic Leave No Trace Activity for Cub Scouts

Pack 505 Campout:  June 2013

Scout ranks

All ranks – no modifications

Scope

The goal is to provide a quick, interactive review of Leave No Trace (LNT) principles for either cub or boy scouts.  The basic program is appropriate for all rank levels.  It is a good opportunity for the more experienced scouts to present what they know and for the less experienced to learn.  The program was previously performed in entirety for 30 minute round robin segments during a Cub Scout camp out.

Materials and Resources

• Adult leader with some knowledge of LNT
• Boy Scout handbook LNT section: good guide and examples
• LNT.org also offers programming and resources

Principles of Leave No Trace (Boy Scout)

1. Plan ahead and prepare
2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces
3. Dispose of waste properly
4. Leave what you find
5. Minimize campfire impacts
6. Respect wildlife
7. Be considerate of other visitors

Note that boy scout LNT principles are taught here. There are cub variations of the principles but the organizer did not see the point in teaching the cub guidelines when the same scouts would be learning the Boy Scout ones in coming years.  In practice even the younger scouts understood the Boy Scout principles with some explanation.

Program

• Introduction / event description
• Quickly layout ground rules for all kids participating and respecting each other – hand raising and giving everyone a chance.
• Introduce each LNT, starting from beginning
• Review of event
• Ask for scout reflections and what they have learned

Description

This activity rotation was conducted at an early spring campout where it was comfortable to be outside and sit on the ground without having to deal with the heat and bugs.  The Saturday afternoon timing was ideal for the scouts to reflect on their experiences on the specific campout and their surroundings.

Assemble all boys in a semi-circle in front of the speaker.  The intent is that the speaker will spend the most time describing the first principle and then gradually involve the scouts and siblings into speaking roles while acting as mediator. Then start from the first LNT principle: “Plan ahead and Prepared.  Introduce the principle and ask for ideas of how this applied to the current event. Encourage them to think about what it takes to plan the event and arrange for the Pack safety.  Give examples about packing appropriately for the weather, mapping out the route to the campground and assuring parents have time off work.  For this particular event each family had to drive to campground not previously visited and about 45 minutes away; this provided an excellent opportunity for the boys to present their own family experiences for planning.  You can ask questions and bring up topics to prolong the discussion so the scouts get the idea of how this event works.  The key to success here was that we encouraged scouts to continue with their own examples while proceeding through the remaining principles.  

At the end of the first principle, ask the group what the first principle was and then introduce the second principle. Perform the same type of discussion for the second principle – encourage the scouts to talk (in turn) and the leader should just mediate the discussion; this keeps the scouts engaged and interested as they are making their contributions. Encourage shy boys to provide their ideas and draw them in.  No idea or example is a bad one.  This is how we all learn.

At the end of the 2^nd principle segment, ask the group what the first principle was, and then the second principle.  Then introduce the third principle.  Progress through all 7 principles in the same manner; reinforcing the order of the 7 principles is not only important for eventual Boy Scout application but also made the event fun.  The scouts had to compete to raise their hands to answer first. By the end of all 7 principles, the scouts should be able to list all 7 principles in order. Encourage excitement and competition for the scouts to list the principles.  We had a fun time doing this event.  It was exciting how the scouts reacted when they knew that we were going to list all principles learned so far.

Event Modifications

No modifications for rank.  All ranks included in same event.

Some introduction of practical examples for several points would help keep scouts’ interest.  Involve a Boy Scout or adult strolling into the session randomly with a short scenario would add fun and spontaneity to the event.

Review of Session

The event went much better than anticipated and required surprisingly little preparation.  The keys to success were a knowledgeable and interactive adult leader and clear ground rules so boys have good behavior.  The other key ingredient was making it fun and encouraging the boys to talk about their ideas.  

The same leader had conducted LNT trainings with older Boy Scouts and the event had not been as smooth – probably since it wasn’t as much fun and interactive – more of a lecture.  Lesson Learned here to mediate the boys discussion rather than trying to be the only one talking.]

The event was a great after lunch activity which also offered opportunity for siblings to be involved as they too were on the campout and could relate their experiences and observations of the campout. Some of the advantages here were that some of the older sisters provided some great perspectives and helped prompt the younger boys with some ideas they could present.

For the present case the group of scouts and siblings were very interactive and had lots of great ideas.  If you as a leader have a quieter group you may want to be prepared with some fun, interesting, extreme, or practical ideas to interject to stimulate conversation.  Also if you are considering presenting this as a den or patrol exercise, and your group is skilled with LNT, consider creating scenarios so they can be involved in judging LNT situations themselves rather than just sitting in one spot talking. Sometimes a sample campsite to evaluate for LNT correctness or having a hiker “actor” stroll in to talk about their adventures can be better opportunities for the boys to learn LNT by example.