Southern comfort

Leaving the familiarity  of the west, we rolled our Subaru east through Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and into Mississippi.  Oxford MS, the home of William Faulkner and Ole Miss University where  we facilitated a Trainer Course. We were welcomed by the heat and the extraordinary hospitality of our host Katie.  With the temperature consistently 95 degrees with humidity through roof, we opted for our first indoor Trainer Course.  Although this lacked the splendor of the southern woods we were able to teach and learn in a comfortable environment.  One of the most creative presentations we had was from Robert on Plan Ahead and Prepare: The PAAP Rap check out our link on youtube. 

Apart from the Trainer Course we have been enjoying an exploration of the South: fried catfish, hush puppies, sweet tea, the Natchez Trace, Tishamingo State Park (the climbing mecca of Mississippi!), and the wonderful rolling accents.  We also had the opportunity to brainstorm ways to incorporate Leave No Trace into the education happening at Crow's Neck Environmental Education Center.  They have amazing facilities and a great program getting kids involved with the outdoors in and around northeastern Mississippi.   We are looking forward to more time in the South later on in September when we get to explore New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf.  

look forward to seeing you on the road, 

North and Ella

"No Child Left Inside" Reading and Resource List

As former classroom and environmental educators from 1998-2005, we often made presentations and wrote articles on the phenomenon of children and their relationship to the natural world that has recently and finally been brought to the mainstream audience through Richard Louv's Last Child In the Woods. As we continue to work with K-12 students and youth serving organizations across the U.S., we try and offer a toolkit of good reads that help to inspire and motivate individuals to action.  Enjoy our list on Amazon and let's continue to reconnect kids with the outdoors and to help them engage in ethical decision-making while they enjoy the wild and stunning otherness of the natural world!

"No Child Left Inside" Book List

-Dusty and Amy

The Boulder Daze

Greetings to all of you Leave No Trace warriors - 

We are very excited to see this new blog evolve as we continue  to keep Leave No Trace fresh and relevant for our 21st century world.  Keep  checking back in as all three teams will provide updates from the road, stories, photos, and much, much 

more!

We have recently emerged from a six-week immersion in the "real world" of a settled lifestyle.  We traded in our tent for a condo roof as we lived and worked a daily 9-5  schedule at the Center in Boulder. While there, we worked behind the scenes as we prepared for the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show, RockyGrass and the "How Green is Your Grass?" Campsite Contest, and FolksFest. We also had the great fortune of leading a training for several amazing youth leaders from the Denver-based James Beckwourth Mountain Club. This amazing organization guides culturally diverse youth into the stunning Rocky Mountain landscape as they also incorporate leadership development, cultural awareness, and community building.

It was definitely a fresh and different world for us as we actually had a stove in the kitchen, closet for our clothing, and an actual bed location that did not change nightly!  When not answering tons of emails, making countless phone calls, and dealing with the daily duties of the desk-bound life, we were enjoying the stellar Summer season of Boulder.  Evening BBQ's, long after-work trail runs, and weekend ascents of some of the state's 14,000 foot peaks were highlights of our time in the landscape of Colorado.

As much as we loved every minute of our "rooted" time in Boulder, we missed cruising a back road in the mountains and catching the lingering moments of alpenglow. Or facilitating dialogue amidst land management officials one day and leading fun and goofy games with 4th graders the next day. However, we are now back on the highways of America and looking forward to our educational nomadic lifestyle once again!

See you out there!

-Dusty and Amy

Alki

After switching coasts with North and Ella, we had a chance to visit Glacier National Park before heading out to Washington. While in Glacier, we had a chance to do a little hiking and even caught a glimpse of some of the park's most popular residents. This black bear cub reminds us to always be alert and drive slowly when sight-seeing near wild areas.

On Saturday, we joined Music Matters for the Dowload Festival at The Gorge near Quincy, WA. During this full-day festival we chatted with music-lovers about Leave No Trace's Frontcounty Program.

A Few Days in the Life...

We are enjoying our time in Colorado as we prepare to transition from Team West to Team East. The past week has been filled with beautiful hikes, wonderful music and friends at the Folks Festival, and a good time with Dusty and Amy... Stay tuned as we travel from Colorado to Mississippi and then up to the North East.

sittin, waitin, wishin