Meal Planning
Planning for meals and lightweight snacks that require minimum packing and preparation time lightens loads and decreases garbage. One-pot meals require minimal cooking utensils and eliminate the need for a campfire. Remember, a stove Leaves No Trace. It can be helpful to remove food from its commercial packing and repackage it. This method can reduce the amount of garbage your group must pack out at the end of the trip and reduce bulk.

Vegetation

 The resistance of vegetation to trampling varies. Careful decisions must be made when traveling across vegetation. Select areas of durable vegetation or sparse vegetation that is easily avoided. Grasses are resistant to trampling, but most forest herbs and ferns are fragile and quickly show the effects of trampling. Wet meadows and other fragile vegetation quickly show the effects of trampling.

Trampling encourages new and inexperienced travelers to take the same route and leads to undesirable trail development. As a general rule, travelers who must venture off-trail should spread out to avoid creating paths that encourage others to follow. Avoid vegetation whenever possible, especially on steep slopes where the effects of off-trail travel are magnified.

Human Waste

Currently, over one hundred protozoans, bacteria, and viruses have been identified in human wastes, including Giardia lamblia, Cryptosporidium parvum, various coliform bacteria, and viruses such as Hepatitis A. Proper disposal of human waste is important to avoid pollution of water sources, avoid the negative implications of someone else finding it, minimize the possibility of spreading disease and maximize the rate of decomposition.

In most locations, correctly burying human feces is the most effective method to meet these criteria. Solid human waste must be packed out from places like narrow river canyons. Land management agencies can advise you of specific rules for the area you plan to visit. Twenty-five percent of National Park Service managers reported that inadequate disposal of human waste was a common problem in many of their backcountry areas.

Several EPA-approved, commercially produced pack-out systems are available that are easy to use and sanitary for backpacking/hiking use. Other systems (including reusable, washable toilet systems) are bulkier and may be better suited for paddling/rafting trips.  As more and more people enjoy parks and protected areas every year, packing out human waste is likely to become a common practice to ensure the long-term sustainability of our shared lands. In some environments, particularly in fragile alpine or desert settings, land managers may require that all solid human waste be packed out.

• Pack it in, pack it out. Inspect your campsite and rest areas for trash or spilled food. Pack out all trash, leftover food, and litter. Burning trash is never recommended.

•  Deposit solid human waste in catholes dug 6-8 inches deep at least 200 feet from water, camp, and trails. Cover and disguise the cathole when finished.  Bury toilet paper deep in a cathole or pack the toilet paper out along with hygiene products.

•  To wash yourself or your dishes, carry water 200 feet away from streams or lakes and use small amounts of biodegradable soap. Scatter strained dishwater.

Avoid Damaging Live Trees and Plants

Avoid hammering nails into trees to hang things, hacking at them with hatchets and saws, or carving into them. These actions can make the trees more susceptible to disease and cause lasting damage. When tying items such as clotheslines or hammocks to a tree, 1-inch wide straps should be utilized to avoid girdling the tree. Only utilize these items when large and sturdy enough trees are available—cutting boughs for use as sleeping pads should be avoided as they create minimal benefit and maximum impact.

Picking a few flowers does not seem to have any significant impact, and if only a few were picked, it wouldn’t. But, if every visitor thought, “I’ll just take a few,” a much more significant impact might result. Pollinators supported by these plants often have small ranges and may depend on just a few species of flowers for survival. Removal of flowers will also impact the plant’s ability to reproduce and may result in fewer flowers in that location. Take a picture or sketch the flower instead of picking it to leave what you find.

When foraging for edible plants, be careful not to deplete the surviving vegetation or disturb rare or slow reproduction plants. All local guidance should be closely followed. Traditional gathers by indigenous communities take place on many public lands. Any guidelines surrounding these, such as limiting gathering amounts or locations for other visitors, should be respected.

Leave Natural Objects and Cultural Artifacts

Natural objects of beauty or interest, such as antlers, petrified wood, or colored rocks, add to the experience of an outdoor area and should be left so others can enjoy a sense of discovery. Additionally, they may play a vital role in the ecosystem by providing essential nutrients, habitat, or other benefits. These natural objects are also protected by law in national parks and many other protected places.  The same ethic applies to cultural artifacts found on public lands. The Archaeological Resources Protection Act protects cultural artifacts. Removing or disturbing archeological sites, historic sites, or artifacts such as pot shards, arrowheads, structures, and even antique bottles found on public lands is illegal. These items should be left in place.

Minimize Site Alterations

Leave areas as you find them. Do not dig trenches for tents or construct lean-tos, cairns, tables, chairs, or other rudimentary improvements. Moving rocks can promote erosion and alter habitats for aquatic species and insects. Building cairns can also cause navigation issues for those who come after you. If you clear an area of surface rocks, twigs, or pine cones, replace these items before leaving. Consider the idea that good campsites are found and not made.  Properly located and legally constructed facilities, such as a single fire ring, should be left in place in many locations. Dismantling them will cause additional impact because they will be rebuilt with new rocks and thus impact a new area.

Invasive Species

Avoid transporting and introducing invasive species by cleaning outdoor gear regularly.  Boats should be cleaned, drained, and dried before using them in a new water source.  Boots, tents, bike tires, etc., should be cleaned regularly.

Existing Fire Rings

The best place to build a fire is within an existing fire ring in an established campsite. charcoal should also be limited to use within fire rings or freestanding grills. Keep the fire small and burning only for the time you are using it. Allow the wood to burn completely to ash. Put out fires with water, not dirt. Dirt may not completely extinguish the fire. Avoid building fires next to rock outcrops where the black scars will remain for many years.

Transporting Firewood

Firewood is a common carrier of invasive species. To mitigate this risk, purchasing or legally gathering wood from the ecosystem in which the campfire will be held is best. Generally, wood sourced from within 50 miles of the final fire location will suffice, but it is always best to consult local land management agencies for guidance.

Fire Pans

A firepan is another good alternative to a traditional campfire. Metal oil drain pans and backyard barbecue grills make effective and inexpensive fire pans. Commercially produced compact fire pans are also available at outdoor retailers to minimize campfire impacts. The pan should have at least three-inch-high sides. It should be elevated on rocks or lined with mineral soil so the heat does not scorch the ground.

Mound Fires

Where existing fire rings are not available, mound fires may be an alternative. Construction of a mound fire can be accomplished using simple tools: a garden trowel, a large stuff sack, and a ground cloth or plastic garbage bag.

Firewood & Cleanup

Firewood should be purchased from a local source or gathered responsibly where allowed.  Standing trees, dead or alive, are home to birds and insects, so leave them intact.  Fallen trees also provide bird and animal shelter, increase the soil’s water-holding capacity, and recycle nutrients back into the environment through decomposition.  Stripping branches from standing or fallen trees detracts from an area’s natural appearance.  Avoid cutting or breaking branches from standing or downed trees. Dead and down wood burns quickly, is easy to collect, and leaves less impact.  Use small pieces of wood, no larger than the diameter of an adult wrist that can be broken with your hands. Gather wood over a wide area away from camp. Use dry driftwood on rivers and seashores.  Burn all wood to white ash and thoroughly soak it with water to extinguish the fire. The ashes should be cool to the touch.  In backcountry areas, scatter the remains over a large area away from camp. Ashes may have to be packed out in river corridors.  Replace soil where you found it when cleaning up a mound or pan fire.  Scatter unused wood to keep the area as natural looking as possible.  Pack out any litter. Plastic items and foil-lined wrappers should never be burned on a campfire.

Whenever you are in an outdoor space, you are in the natural habitat of many wild animals and should work to minimize your impact on them.  Human impacts on wildlife can result in negative human-wildlife interactions, aggressive animals, a decline in the ecosystem’s health, and relocated or euthanized animals. All these impacts can be avoided if visitors respect wildlife on all outdoor trips. 

The Basics:

• Observe wildlife from a distance. Do not follow or approach them.

•  Never feed animals. Feeding wildlife damages their health, alters natural

• behaviors, and exposes them to predators and other dangers.

•  Control pets at all times, or leave them at home.

•  Avoid wildlife during sensitive times: mating, nesting, raising young, or winter.

 Distance

 Seeing big and small wildlife is an exciting piece of our time spent outdoors. Whether it be a deer on a national forest trail or a chipmunk in our neighborhood park, we want to ensure we always give wildlife plenty of space. While animals may not seem bothered by our company, they can be unpredictable, and getting too close could cause them to harm us or injure themselves if they try to run away. During certain times of the year, such as mating or nesting season, animals are even more sensitive to the presence of humans. Seeing humans may cause wildlife to abandon their young or become more aggressive to protect them. In winter, critters have to work extra hard to survive, and causing them to flee will cause them to use the critical energy they need to survive. Make sure you give wildlife extra space during these times of the year.

 Food Storage

 Never feed wildlife, no matter how hungry they may look. Human food is unhealthy for wildlife, and regular access to it can cause animals to no longer seek their natural food sources, relying on us for their meals. Access to our food can also cause wildlife to lose their fear of humans and be attracted to us or unsafe areas like busy roadways. It is important always to store our food and trash so that wildlife cannot get access to it. How you store your food and trash depends on what type of wildlife is in the area and local regulations around food storage. Putting food into a plastic storage tub may be enough if things like birds, squirrels, and bugs are all we have to worry about. However, in places like bear country, whether black bears or grizzlies, storing food, trash, and anything with a scent, such as toothpaste or deodorant, in a bear canister, locker, or locked vehicle is essential. No matter where you visit, check with local land managers to see what type of food storage is required.