What About Leaving MORE Trace in 2025?

We are huge supporters of Leave No Trace and the Seven Principles. They serve as a set of the most fundamental practices to follow in the wilderness. They enhance our safety by encouraging us to prepare ahead. They urge us to be respectful of all living things be it plant, animal and fungi. And they help to ensure that our presence is felt as little as possible. 

And, it's that last part we want to dig into...

A dizzying number of factors threaten our public lands, including climate change, always increasing use (which is a good thing assuming we're equipped to handle it), budget and staffing shortages among land management agencies, including thousands of lay-offs of USFS, NPS and Fish & Wildlife employees, and political pressures to open more public lands for resource extraction, and worse, sell them off entirely. All of this can be very difficult to face, especially amidst the pressures of everyday life.

Through our scramble to protect what is left of our public lands, we have created barriers to accessing it. We limit the number of people who can use it; we control the areas where people can stay; and we require payment to use certain places. These regulations have benefits, but they also subtly reinforce a sense that we are separate from nature. This separation works against our inherent connection to nature. And, if we see ourselves as separate from nature, are we less likely to take action to protect it?

Leave More Trace was an idea coined by Chris Loynes, a Professor of Human Nature Relations at the University of Cumbria in the UK. It challenges us to ask whether we need to be taking an even more hands-on approach. In his paper on this subject Chris says, “Leaving only footprints and taking only photographs will not make places ‘better’ and leaving most places as they are is not an option either.” 

This idea takes has a new urgency with the mass lay-offs of federal employees by the Trump administration in recent weeks including 3,400 U.S. Forest Service, 10% of the total workforce, 1,000 National Parks staff and 400 Fish & Wildlife staff. We will soon begin to see the effects as trails and roads continue to fall into disrepair; trash litters our campgrounds and parks; firefighters are ill-equipped to combat wildfires; parks are difficult to access or closed altogether; search and rescue is less capable of responding to emergencies, and on and on. 

So, maybe our goal right now shouldn't be more pristine, seemingly untouched landscapes, but more resilient ones prepared to deal with the impacts of humans and climate change?

Image courtesy of the National Park Service

We are re-engineering our landscapes to ensure their survival, and this takes quite a lot of intervention. For example, in Rocky Mountain National Park, wildland firefighters and the U.S. Forest Service have cut and burned thousands of trees as a means of mitigating potential wildfire impact. During the East Troublesome Fire in 2020, these fuel reduction projects were instrumental in saving the town of Grand Lake and many parts of the National Park. 

In 2003, the Chilean Forestry Department planted 3 million seedings inoculated with mycorrhizae spores with the goal of growing forests more rapidly in order to stabilize soil, reduce flooding risk, and sequester carbon. Mycorrhizae are a type of fungi that grow on tree roots helping them to absorb additional nutrients and water. Trees with mycorrhizae grow faster. The cultivation of these enhanced seedlings worked, accelerating reforestation efforts.

These examples illustrate the kind of large-scale interventions that organizations are taking to protect our wild spaces. But what can we do as individuals? We believe that now more than ever, we need to work for the outdoors not just enjoy it responsibly. Here’s how we plan to Leave More Trace in 2025.  

1. Lobby Your Politicians

‘Likes’ don’t cut it. Send an email. Sign a petition. Make a phone call. Write a letter. Taking some small action is the best remedy for our nightly doom scrolling. Skeptical about the power of these easy, grassroots actions? Read this on the Big Thompson Divide.

Here's the steps for calling your congressional representatives in the House and Senate:

1. Go to Congress.gov, type in your zip and get your list of reps
2. Call them directly or call this number (202-224-3121) and say their name to be connected to their voicemail.
3. Leave a message with your thoughts. Here's some words to get you going...
4. Hi. "My name is ____ and I live in ____ and my zip code is _____. I join the majority of Americans who love our public lands and waters. I want Representative _____ to urge the Trump administration to halt work on action plans to dismantle national monuments and other public land protections and policies. These issues are of fundamental importance to me and I will not vote for representatives who do not take clear action to protect public lands. Thank you."
5. Repeat often.

2. Do Trail Work 

We repeat…do trail work. The USFS laid off 2,400 seasonal employees for this upcoming season due to budget shortfalls, and more layoffs are on the way. Land Managers and trail orgs need your help, but it goes beyond throwing away your wrappers and packing out your toilet paper. If you love the outdoors, trail work is one of the most meaningful ways you can spend your time. Find a local organization and dedicate a day. One day. You’ll never go back.

3. Sign Up for Races Run by Trail Orgs

The fees generated from races, specifically ones run by local trail organizations are a huge source of revenue to fund ongoing trail projects. It’s another win-win. You have fun. Your registration fees go to funding important work in the area. Shameless plug for the Gunnison Growler if you’re into mountain biking and the West Elk Challenge if you’re a trail runner in Colorado. Both are amazing under-the-radar events that fund non-profits.

4. Make A (Small) Donation

Don’t have time or the ability to do trail work? We get it. $20 bucks matters when it’s going to a local organization. Find one that aligns with your passions, get on their mailing list and throw them some cash whenever possible. Plus, trail orgs throw great parties, which are opportunities to get more connected to likeminded folks in your community.

The Call-To-Action

Do these things feel small? Yes! That’s the idea. They’re the same things we’ll be doing at PACT this year. Supporting events, donating funds and product, swinging pickaxes, writing letters AND (of course) we’re doing everything possible to minimize our actual impact when we’re outdoors.

Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl famously said, “control the controllables”. What he means is that we should only focus on the aspects of a situation that we have power over, and not to spend a minute worrying about all the things that sit outside of our control. How you spend your time; who and what receives your hard-earned money; where and how you direct your voice all sit within your control.

LNT is fundamental. But in 2025, it’s the bare minimum. Those of us with the resources, need to switch our thinking beyond how we’re minimizing our impact to how we are maximizing it. It’s now or never.