Leave No Trace (LNT) and the Center for Outdoor Ethics are organizations that research and educate others on ways to minimize environmental impact when participating in outdoor activities. Their curriculum covers subjects such as creating traceless campfires, proper waste disposal, sustainable campsite selection, and more.
The received funding from the Campus Sustainability Fund, will support multiple levels of LNT training for University of Arizona students and staff. Training will provide various leadership and education opportunities for students to implement during the process. The Outdoor Recreation Center will enact their Outdoor Recreation Coordinator and Specialist with earning their LNT Master Educator certifications. This training will allow both staff members to further provide and facilitate training of Level 1 Certification Courses for the University community. This training knowledge will continue to be further passed down through a series of six events held in the 2024 Spring and Fall semesters.
The first event will allow for Outdoor Recreation staff to attend a 2-day backpacking course to showcase their interest in becoming co-instructors in future courses by obtaining their Level 1 instructor certification. The Outdoor Recreation Center will be providing a 2-day backpacking trip and a 2-day camp and climbing trip as the next two events. Through these excursions, students will be able to earn a Level 1 instructor certification. Afterwards, a day hike and a day paddle board yoga trip will be offered to students and will be completely student led by those who completed their certifications. Those who attend, can then provide LNT skill workshops and courses to their community. All courses will require a $10 buy in while the Outdoor Recreation will fully cover the cost of transportation, gear, food, and provide guiding. The final event of the semester will be a front country two-day Level 1 instructor course, provided at no cost to target students who are less familiar with the outdoors.
LNT knowledge will continue to be further implemented into existing educational programs such as Women’s Initiative for Leadership in the Outdoors (WILO) and Girls on Outdoor Adventures for Leadership and Science (GALS) through no additional cost.
This initiative had a whopping 78 Students who participated in education-based, price-reduced trips! Overall, 31 Level 1 Instructor certificates and two Level 2 Instructor certificates were awarded. A total of 113 student-employee hours were spent leading workshops!
Two staff members at Outdoor Recreation earned their LNT Master Educator certifications through a 2-day backpacking course, which enabled them to lead Level 1 Certification Courses for both Outdoor Recreation staff and the campus community.
This project team is proud to say that they hosted fives successful trips that resulted in participants obtaining their Level 1 certificate, including an intensive backpacking trip for Outdoor Recreation staff, a backpacking and camping trip for students, a day hike on Mt. Lemmon, an overnight backpacking course, a paddle board yoga day trip at Lake Patagonia, and a climbing course! These trips received overwhelmingly positive feedback and allowed participants to practice and share LNT skills with their communities.
Additionally, LNT principles were successfully integrated into existing programs like the Women’s Initiative for Leadership in the Outdoors (WILO), Girls on Outdoor Adventures for Leadership and Science (GALS), and the Outdoor Adventures Learning and Living Community.
This participant had wonderful things to say about their experience: "The friendly, intelligent and welcoming guides made the trip, from their insight to the outdoors or their personal experiences to help everyone feel comfortable and confident in the outdoors.
It was so fun! The guides were fabulous - so knowledgeable and fun. They let us have independence while still teaching and guiding us. And it was only $10 and the gear was provided! So grateful to have this opportunity as a student!"
