Leave No Trace (and PLEASE No Painted Rocks!)
Nancy Zane, Leave No Trace (LNT) Master Educator
If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a bit, you’ve probably heard me say about 20 times that I need to bring a guest back to take a deeper dive into something we talked about in an interview… I’m finally making good on one of these promises, my guest today is the knowledgeable and delightful Nancy Zane from Northstar Adventures.
Nancy was one of my first guests waaaay back on Episode 3, and she is a Leave No Trace Master Educator, which we didn’t delve into too much at the time. But one unexpected result of the worldwide pandemic, at least in the northeast, has been to drive more and more people outside, whether for exercise, solace or even just for a change of scenery. And with the weather starting to improve, it’s probably just a matter of weeks before trailheads and boat ramps start overflowing with people again. I figured it was high time we bring Nancy back to school us on the seven principles of leave no trace.
From fairy houses and painted rocks, to campfires and cat-hole etiquette, Nancy helps us sort through the good, bad, and often counterintuitive things we do that can adversely impact the spaces and places we love. As Nancy so succinctly puts it, we’re not the only ones on the planet, and we have to share. Sometimes it takes a while to understand all the nuances and details of these practices, but they are well worth learning, so we are able to preserve and enjoy the resources around us for generations to come. I found this interview to be hugely informative, and I know you will too!
I hope you’ll do an even deeper dive into Leave No Trace ethics and practices with more useful links from my conversation with Nancy: