Discovering the Leave No Trace Principles Through Art

A busy Team West wrapped up February with an awareness workshop in Cudahy, CA at the Ellen Ochoa Learning Center working with an excited group of 70 sixth grade students. Following a comprehensive introduction to the Leave No Trace PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids) Program, the students were instructed to select one of the 7 principles that resonated with them. Once each student selected a principle, we asked them to get those creative juices flowing and illustrate the principle that they selected. In the picture above, one inspired student chose to represent "Leave What You Find" by demonstrating one way to remember the natural world without taking it home to be displayed in your living room. Can you think of other ways to remember items, thereby Leaving What You Find?

Remember natural items derive their power from the environment from which they came!

Explore Responsibly...Kate and Tracy

Rocky Road

We facilitated a Leave No Trace Trainer Course in Acadia National Park earlier this year. It was a great course with lots of discussions about outdoor ethics! One conversation that came up during the principle of "Leave What You Find" was the practice of rock stacking. It was the first time that this issue had ever been brought up during one of our courses and opinions ranged from finding rock stacks beautiful to offensive. At the time, we had not given much thought to the carefully balanced rocks we had occasionally seen along trails.

So, why months later are we still contemplating the question of rock stacking? Well, we recently had the opportunity to hike in Bryce Canyon National Park and came across a portion of trail that was covered with thousands of rocks balancing upon each other. The sight immediately brought to mind the "Leave What You Find" conversation we had back in Acadia National Park and we could see why there had been such varied feelings towards the activity. While one artfully balanced rock stack can be quite beautiful, seeing these stacks in such a large quantity in a national park felt somewhat disconcerting.

What are your thoughts on rock stacking?