THE SUBARU/LEAVE NO TRACE TRAVELING TRAINER PROGRAM
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
National Junior Ranger Day
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, OH - On Saturday, we visited Ohio's only National Park for National Junior Ranger Day. In celebration of junior rangers everywhere, the park put on a day of free programming. The festivities included arts and crafts with park rangers, fun activities, cake and ice cream, and the opportunity to earn a junior ranger badge.
About 100 kids, parents, and grandparents came out for Junior Ranger Day and enjoyed all the fun, hands-on activities the event had to offer, including exploring Camp Oh-No at the Leave No Trace booth.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park was the 10th most visited national park last year. The park is close to the urban environments of Cleveland and Akron, and offers a variety of things to do, including riding your bike on the Towpath Trail, hiking, horse-back riding, and scenic train rides.
All the best,
Agata and Jason
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Bigfoot Snowboarding?
Bigfoot Visits St. Francis de Sales School
Parma, OH - Last week, Bigfoot joined us for a visit to the Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades at St. Francis de Sales School. The students enjoyed hearing about Trek and Track's Great Adventure to Misty Mountain and learning about the seven principles of Leave No Trace, but nothing beat the visit from Bigfoot as the video above clearly illustrates.
All the best,
Agata and Jason
Monday, April 25, 2011
Gladstone Elementary School Raising Environmental Awareness
Thursday, April 21, 2011
University of Wisconsin-Stout Trainer Course
The course was held on campus due to early spring wintry weather, but the flow of the weekend was educational and focused thanks to the efforts of the group. The office of Stout Adventures doubled as a classroom as well as a recreational opportunity as seen in the group photo at the rock wall.
Stout Adventures staff facilitate outdoor recreation trips around the world for the student body on campus. The participants were enthusiastic and very quick to connect with the common sense approaches to enjoying the outdoors in a responsible manner. The opportunities to develop the ethics of stewardship for public lands and minimum impact recreation skills were well received by the group on the course.
All the best,
Jason and Agata
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Richard Louv Speaker Series
Richard Louv will be appearing across the U.S. and Canada this spring in a series of book release events and presentations. Many of these local appearances are free and open to the public, providing an excellent opportunity to introduce community members and potential partners to the goals and vision of the children and nature movement.
In his bestselling book Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv helped launch a vital dialog that spawned an international movement to reconnect children and nature. In his new book, The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder, Louv delivers another powerful call to action—this time for adults. He will be speaking about the book in various cities.
What do adults have to do with the children and nature movement? Plenty. While time in nature helps people of all ages vastly improve our physical, psychological and spiritual health, children cannot make the nature connection without the help of the adults in their lives. In addition, Louv suggests, it will take people of all ages, working together, to shift the cultural norms that apply to all of us, to address and restore the fundamental human need for nature that he describes in his book, calling on much current research to underscore his case.
The more high-tech our lives become, Louv writes, the more nature we need. The Nature Principle lays out a scenario that integrates nature into every aspect of our lives, from homes and family life to offices, urban planning and recreational spaces.
You can hear Richard Louv speak about The Nature Principle in the following cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Denver, Austin, Vancouver, Toronto and Saskatoon. More information is available about Richard Louv’s appearances. Not on one of the tour stops? You’ll be able to join him for live chats on Twitter, dates to be announced.
For more information about some of the concepts in The Nature Principle and how they apply to the children and nature movement, please see A Conversation with Richard Louv.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Trail Skills College - Cascade Locks, OR
Cascade Locks, OR. The 3rd annual Trail Skills Collge was held at Cascade Locks Marine Park in Oregon on April 15, 16, and 17. The College, which is free to all, teaches participants about building and maintaining trails. There are a variety of classes to choose from including trail tread construction, cross-cut and crew leadership. The Traveling Trainers were on hand to provide general outreach, as well as an awareness workshop. The nearly nonstop rain for the first two days did not deter these dedicated students from learning to be trail stewards. Our trail systems are dependent on the work of volunteers to keep them maintained and safe. The Pacific Crest Trail Association is dedicated to protecting and preserving the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,600 mile trail that runs from Canada to Mexico. The PCTA does a great job of providing development programs for their volunteers to take part in, like Trail Skills College.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Exploring Leave No Trace with Girl Scouts
Carbondale, IL - On Tuesday, Team East joined several Girl Scout troops for an evening awareness workshop. To introduce the scouts to the Leave No Trace program, we drew on various activities from the PEAK program, including What Principle Am I? and Minimum Impact Match. Once the participants had a better understanding of the seven principles, we decided to take advantage of the green space outside and play an exciting game of Ok! or No Way! (You can give this activity a try by downloading it for free from our website). We finished the evening off by having the scouts draw on their artistic talents and create Leave No Trace posters. Check out a sampling of the posters in the slide-show above.
Thanks to Jamie Corr, the Assistant Program Director for Family Housing at Southern Illinois University!
All the best...
Agata and Jason
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Bigfoot visits Evergreen Elementary School
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Outreach in Sweet Home Alabama
Huntsville, AL - On Saturday, we teamed up with Alabama Outdoors for a new event in the Huntsville community. We were joined by many local and national organizations like North Alabama Canoe & Kayak (NACK), Chaco, the Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama, Born Wild Ministries, Priority Medical Training, HEMSI Search Dog Unit, and Boy Scouts of America. Throughout the day community members and shoppers joined us for outreach and workshops.
Many thanks to Derrick, Brian and all the friendly staff at Alabama Outdoors!
All the best,
Jason and Agata
Friday, April 8, 2011
Picture of the Week 4/8/11
All the best,
Jason and Agata
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Leave No Trace with Pack #149
Lutz, Florida - Team East began the week with a bang as they caught up with over seventy Cub Scouts, Webelos, and their families for an evening Awareness Workshop with pack #149. The audience was very animated and went full tilt into the PEAK program games and activities with as high a level of enthusiasm as we have seen this year on the road!
Pictured above a gaggle of Cub Scouts take the "Rule of Thumb" to a whole new level as the audience learns more about enjoying wildlife from a safe distance and the PEAK principle "Respect Wildlife"!
Many thanks to our host Orlando Serrano and the all the families who attended this event. Keep an eye on Team East as we head up north through Alabama, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio over the next few weeks!
All the best,
Jason and Agata
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Member Highlight
Check out Betsy Workman's blog! We emailed Steven today, and he is working hard and logging the miles he needs to train for this event. Team West will be there as Steven takes on this monumental feat, so stay tuned...
Steven is a member of Leave No Trace and will be climbing the 10 highest mountains (majority over 10,000 ft) in Oregon in 6 days. Total elevation gain is 50,000 feet! This event is to help promote Leave No Trace Awareness. The Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers will be traveling and camping with Steven, providing outreach to local state parks and REIs along the way.
He will begin Sunday July 10, 2011 by climbing Oregon’s 7th and 10th tallest mountains. Sacajawea Peak (9,833′) 13 miles and Aneroid Mountain (9,702′) 14 miles. He will be running the 27 miles with nearly 10,000 feet of elevation gain. During the climb, the Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers will be holding trainings at Wallowa State Park for the public and for local Boy Scouts.
Monday, July 11th I will climb Matterhorn Mountain (9,845′) and Hurwal Divide (9,775′). Matterhorn is Oregon’s 6th tallest and 19.5 miles long, and Hurwal Divide is Oregon’s 8th tallest at 15 miles long. Again, I will run the 34.5 miles with nearly 10,000 feet of elevation gain.
Tuesday, July 12th Steven will run Oregon’s 9th tallest summit, Steen Mountain (9,733′) in only 3 miles round trip. The Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers are holding a PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids) Training at REI BEND that night at 6pm. FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC. Tuesday evening we will be camping at Tumalo State Park, Leave No Trace and Steven will be holding an evening talk at the Park.
Wednesday Steven will be running South Sister (10,358’), Oregon’s 3rd tallest mountain. By the end of the third day he will have run over 3 marathons with almost 30,000 feet of elevation gain. This evening, come back to REI BEND at 6pm to hear Steven's stories thus far on the adventure. He will have photos, stories, and will be talking about his Leave No Trace experience during his climbs. Refreshments provided. FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC.
Thursday July 14th he will climb the remaining 2 Sisters. North Sister (10,085) and Middle Sister (10,056).
Friday July 15th he will hike Mt. Jefferson (10,497), skin up Mt. Hood (11,239 ) and ski down completing the challenge. There will be a press conference at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood after the summit. The Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers will be on site for the press conference, offering booth outreach at the Lodge.
For more detail on his climb, visit his Facebook page.
Go Steven!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Trainer Course in the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve
Green Swamp Preserve, Florida - Last weekend, April 2nd and 3rd, Team East was back in the sunshine state for a weekend long Trainer Course hosted by Florida Southern College. The nine participants represented students and staff from Florida Southern, the Boy Scouts of America, and various non-profits from around the state.
The group dynamic was excellent and everyone on the course came together for what turned out to be a wonderful weekend of teaching and learning together about minimum impact outdoor recreation. The sixteen-hour course focused on the seven principles of Leave No Trace and how to use the educational program to practice and teach the skills and ethics of enjoying public lands responsibly.
The group was engaged by the educational experience as well as seeing alligators, snakes, and the ever popular "frankensandwich" (peanut butter, jelly, cheese, and summer sausage) that captivated group lunch on day two in the swamp!
Many "thanks" to all the energy and enthusiasm the participants and our hosts, Michelle Thompson and Era Keys, put into making this trainer course an enjoyable weekend for all.
All the best,
Jason and Agata
Monday, April 4, 2011
Can't Burn This...
San Luis Obispo, CA
Walking down the beaches of San Luis Obispo County, one can't deny the beauty that surrounds them. With the clear blue-greens of the ocean dancing and flirting with the rays of sunshine, the sweet salty air lifts your spirits, and the lush rolling hills surround you with peace. We love spending time in the mountains, but being at the ocean evokes many memories of our childhood growing up in New England.