Leave No Trace - Remember?

[professorkx]

Cave art by primitive humans is a far cry from aerosol paint defacing a national monument when human civilization tops out at around 7.9 billion.

Also, this is garbage created by degenerates. There is no cultural or artistic significance.

I suspect a lot of this "art" starts out with "here, hold my beer"

 

[blackntan]

I suspect a lot of this "art" starts out with "here, hold my beer"

Or how do i spell my name again !!

 

[luchaDor]

Lol. If you had a sence of humour you would HAVE GOT IT Lol SARCASM IT WAS NOT ' ILL TREAD LIGHTLY FROM NOW ON '. Ps Humor dont need gramar were am from you either get it or you Dont.

Wow... I certainly did not deserve that response. Yell at some else.

Sent from my LG-H872 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[blackntan]

Wow... I certainly did not deserve that response. Yell at some else.

Sent from my LG-H872 using OB Talk mobile app

' HUMOUR '

 

[LostInSocal]

I'm starting a 'thread lightly' campaign to stop the production of all recovery gear by any and all manufacturers. These products are enabling the erosion of our natural lands. Mountain bikes are next!

 

[blackntan]

I'm starting a 'thread lightly' campaign to stop the production of all recovery gear by any and all manufacturers. These products are enabling the erosion of our natural lands. Mountain bikes are next!

Lol !!

 

[OffroadTreks]

It could be that you're actually not funny.

Boldadventure wrote that it's recommended to camp in designated sites. While that is possible in more populated areas, especially those ares with little public ground like the eastern US, it's simply not always possible in the west with vast areas of unpopulated public lands. We can go for days without seeing another human, and the forest service/BLM don't spend money building campgrounds where few people go. We love them when we find the campgrounds, and are usually the only ones in the campground, but they are just few and far between, so we dispersion camp.

Not designated sites, pre-existing/established sites if you see them.

I'm in Idaho and I kinda get that, but at the same time, I've been in the middle of nowhere and still seen spots that look like that is the clearing people have been camping in or parking in. No one is saying just because you parked in a clearing that you're destroying nature. Or that it has to be a developed campground. Almost all of my camping is 100% boondocking on BLM/NFS land.

When I lived on the east coast, I actually found it harder to camp in the backcountry, because there were more developed campgrounds and people usually just went to one of those. So you almost never found a spot where someone was camping. So you pretty much looked for some clear spot to setup your tent. And then try to remember the NFS's rules about if am I suppose to be 300 or 100 yards away from the trail and a water source, yada yada yada...

 

[blackntan]

It could be that you're actually not funny. THATS THE SPIRIT



Not designated sites, pre-existing/established sites if you see them.

I'm in Idaho and I kinda get that, but at the same time, I've been in the middle of nowhere and still seen spots that look like that is the clearing people have been camping in or parking in. No one is saying just because you parked in a clearing that you're destroying nature. Or that it has to be a developed campground. Almost all of my camping is 100% boondocking on BLM/NFS land.

When I lived on the east coast, I actually found it harder to camp in the backcountry, because there were more developed campgrounds and people usually just went to one of those. So you almost never found a spot where someone was camping. So you pretty much looked for some clear spot to setup your tent. And then try to remember the NFS's rules about if am I suppose to be 300 or 100 yards away from the trail and a water source, yada yada yada...

 

[Michael]

So I get up this morning and figured I would watch a video or two on Youtube before I started my day. I ran across a video with "Overland Bound" in the title and thought that would be a great video to watch. By the time I got a quarter of the way through the video I was so disgusted I had to force myself to finish watching it. I will be polite and not call people out but they either don't understand what "Leave No Trace" or "Tread Lightly" is, or don't care to follow it. The video showed a number of people driving in wet lands (and getting massively stuck) and blazing new trails. I was really surprised to see a number of vehicles parked in a lake just to get a cool picture (I am giving them the benefit of doubt that they were not washing the mud off their vehicles in the lake).

Most of the off-road organizations I have been involved in preach Tread Lightly because they don't want to risk losing access to public lands (which this video was taken on). I have always had a problem with these organizations because their understanding of these principles only seem to go as far as "don't screw it up for everyone" but in general don't seem to care about the principles.

I have always seen Overlanders as being different. Overlanders embrace the principles of Leave No Trace and Treadly Lightly because it is nature itself that is the attraction. I heard repeatedly to air down so you don't leave holes on the trail from spinning or create corrigation on the trail. Or there is the more widely discussed "Pack it in - Pack it out" as well as leave it better than you found it. I've always seen Overlanding as having a higher standard of conduct than off-roaders primarily because their purpose is appreciation of the land they are on. Has Overlanding gotten so popular that their standard of conduct has dropped, or are we getting people involved in the Overland community that just don't get what Overlanding is about?

I think the biggest principle the people in the video missed is "Leave it as you found it". To me what they did was no better than the kid who scribes his name in the middle of the 2,000 year old rock painting.

I'm not on a witch hunt or anything, but what Overland Bound video are you referring to? Seems very unlike our crew. Feel free to send a PM.

 

[mmnorthdirections]

I'm not on a witch hunt or anything, but what Overland Bound video are you referring to? Seems very unlike our crew. Feel free to send a PM.

My question in this thread as well. Where and when are these principals of "tread lightly" and " leave no trace" being exploited.
I as a member that leaves an area with respect to the environment am concerned. Please let us know ????
Principles of OB are what keep me here and physical limitations make me want to explore in this method. Thank you all for the welcomed feedback please detail this for me......

 

[RescueRangers]

I know we have a lot of new people getting into overlanding (Overland Expo claims a 25% increase each year) and many of these are new to nature in general, going off the pavement, or sleeping in something that doesn't have walls made of wood or concrete. We also have people who have been off-roading and doing the camping thing for years but only now are finding out there can be a higher purpose to these adventures. Part of my post was a reminder that we have a responsibility with our adventures. Its like the lake surrounded by deep green grass in a nearby National Forest that was OMG beautiful until a couple 4x4's thought it would be cool to drive through the grass and get stuck. My daughter's kids will be in college before anyone says "OMG that is beautiful" again. Leave No Trace means respect what brought you there in the first place and those who will follow you. I mean, we are always trying to find that one spot to get that great picture of the endless mountain tops or the killer waterfall. It is so frustrating to find that spot only to see "Bob Luvs Debby" in the corner of our viewfinder. Just as finding that OMG beautiful lake just to find a 4x4 recovery site in the best view. Don't start thinking this is looking down my nose or claiming this is a new issue. When the U.S. Cavalry showed up to protect Yellowstone National Park they found their biggest challenge was to stop Bob from protesting his love for Debby on everything everyone else wanted to take a picture of.

The reason I seemed less than happy about posting a friendly reminder was that it looked in every way to be an official Overland Bound video.

I would like to add a disclaimer if I could. There are a number of people in this organization I have a great deal of respect for, they not only practice Leave No Trace but put their words in action. I would recommend, if OB hasn't already, creating a medal for those who have demonstrated the motivation and discipline to get out there and cleaned up other people's crap. I take my hat off to you!

 

[mmnorthdirections]

@RescueRangers You may not be aware of my good friend Neil and an OB member and mentor for anyone that would like to know what this humble great man does in his spare time. Check this out Also the award you speak of is this and the first recipient of this award was Neil in this video Great trails in your future!!!!

 

[billum v2.0]

This reminds me of required "Business Ethics" class nearly three decades ago. If you honestly didn't "get it" before the first class ever began, there was no amount of higher education that would enlighten you.
My assumption that everyone's mother had a "please pick up after yourself..................or else" ethos has been proven misguided more often than not, so now just chalk it up to some folks perspective that their rights come with little to no responsibilities.
I still clean up other people's garbage, but only casually now. There was a day, but my high horse on this subject has been knee capped, and I'm resolved to the closures of public land that is inevitable and if I'm honest, likely deserved if judged by unbiased third parties with no skin in the game.
Kudos to you folks still passionate as measured by your positive actions. Pay no attention to this old curmudgeon, your work is appreciated.

 

[LostInSocal]

I drove out Friday and spent the night on BLM land in Joshua Tree. It's a dry lake bed which some of you may know about. I don't camp on the dry lake bed itself but stay off on the fringes where there are slightly more cover (e.g., desert bushes). I had a fire that night and part of the next morning. I packed out everything I brought in of course, but with the fire "pit", I left the coals and ashes as-is, meaning I didn't scatter the remains or bury it. I did make sure to thoroughly put it out with water before leaving. Should I have buried the remnants of the fire? Driving around I noticed other fire pits were left as-is, so this is a case of monkey-see, monkey-do.

 

[RescueRangers]

We aren't big camp fire people, we seem to put out far more than we ever start. Even so, I would ask the the people who really know. Here is the link to Leave No Trace (https://lnt.org/). They are great people and very helpful. They have a facebook page also.