What is the best place to set up a campsite? Do you know how to avoid introducing or transporting non-native species? How far from a water source you should set up a campsite? Do you know how long different materials, even food waste, takes to decompose?
Maybe you know all of these answers. Maybe you know none of them. Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics™ is an organization that strives to educate and inform individuals about how to minimize their impact on the natural world.
You may already know everything there is to know, or you may be coming in with no knowledge at all. Nonetheless, the organization provides resources and materials to ensure that everybody who enjoys our natural world does so in a way that leaves as little trace as possible. Human impact on our environment is vast, and can cause unnecessary harm. But, together, we can each do our part to minimize these impacts.
We at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge have partnered with Leave No Trace in an effort to show support for minimizing human impact on the world’s natural environment. Along with this, we are going to do our part in spreading impact awareness to improve the natural environment. 84% of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is covered by forests. That is a vast amount of nature. However, we all can enjoy in a fun.joyous.adventuresome manner, and we want to help.
The center of Leave No Trace are the Leave No Trace Seven Principles. They are simple and easy to follow ways to practice your awareness. Every time you are enjoying an activity in the outdoors, remember these principles. They cover everything from minimizing campfire impacts, to respecting wildlife, to proper waste disposal. These principles are a great place to start when you are considering your next outdoor adventure.
The Keweenaw Mountain Lodge is front and center when it comes to our natural world in the Keweenaw. We encourage everybody to find something that they love about the outdoors. Therefore, with this new partnership we will be striving to educate in every way that we can. So stay tuned next season for workshops and activities that you can take part in, to begin or further your Leave No Trace awareness. Stay informed, stay aware, and most importantly enjoy the natural world without it ever knowing you were there.