State parks across Indiana drew more than 16 million visits last year, with hikers, campers and nature lovers flocking to visit the state’s natural wonders.
With so many people hiking along the same trails and setting up camp in the same small clearings, the potential to harm the environment increases.
That’s why a national organization called Leave No Trace is working to educate people on ways to reduce their impact on the environment. The organization seeks to keep hiking trails and backcountry free from human destruction and pristine for future visitors.
Leave No Trace asks visitors to implement seven principles to ensure preservation of the natural beauty of state parks and wooded trails.
The seven principles are: plan ahead and prepare, travel and camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife and be considerate of other visitors.
“The Leave No Trace program is built upon the premise that conservation of our outdoor resources is possible only when people know how to respect them and prevent impacts from their activities,” reads the organization’s mission statement.
The program was first created in 1994 after a group of naturalists found that even environmentally conscious nature lovers and explorers often harmed the areas they visited.
Some of the most important principles seek to reduce hikers’ use of stacked stones or broken branches as trail markers and to mitigate the destruction of natural areas for campsites.
The national group hosts live classes at national and state parks and offers online courses to help promote the principles of Leave No Trace.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources encourages Hoosier hikers and campers to follow the principles, said Ginger Murphy, deputy director for stewardship.
“Since the early 1990s we have practiced ‘carry-in, carry- out’ with trash from picnics and other day uses,” Murphy said, explaining the paucity of trash receptacles at many state parks.
“This has greatly reduced issues in picnic areas where bees, raccoons and other animals who loved to raid trash cans were frequently found, and sometimes caused unfortunate interactions with people.”
Patrick Haulter, an interpretive naturalist at Brown County State Park, said the park often hosts classes to teach campers and naturalists how to utilize the Leave No Trace principles to help reduce the impact of the thousands of yearly guests on the park.
“It’s just something we do to try and teach kids and the future generations to kind of understand how to keep parks natural, just basic stewardship,” he said.
Despite the efforts of park personnel, Leave No Trace programs sometimes don’t reach the intended audience, Haulter said.
“Really, the people who need the program aren’t necessarily the people who come to the program,” he explained, noting that it’s important to teach conservation to young campers. Though most visitors understand not to litter and to store food out of the reach of animals, some of the program’s principles that address trail maintenance and wildlife interactions can help ensure that visitors have a positive experience when they visit a park. “A lot of the people who visit parks are more focused on environmental issues, anyway,” Haulter said. “You have a bit more sense of pride in that place you see if you take care of it.”