Three Arguments for Following LNT

Introduction

In this entry I would like to argue for why we should follow and apply Leave No Trace Principles when in the wilderness. First I will discuss the principles and some of the deviation from those principles I saw on the PCT. Then I will present three arguments for following LNT principles while assuming that people find value and enjoyment in being in the wilderness to begin with. The first argument will be by analogy with museums such as art museums, science museums, planetariums, etc. The second argument will appeal to the consequences of not following LNT. The third argument will appeal to the irrationality of not following LNT given plausible reasons for wanting to be in the wilderness to being with.

The Principles and Examples

   

Leave No Trace Principles (LNT) are guidelines for how one should act while doing activities in the wilderness such as camping, hunting, hiking, rock climbing, etc. There are seven principles:

1. Plan ahead and prepare.
2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces. 
3. Dispose of waste properly.
4. Leave what you find.
5. Minimize campfire impacts.
6. Respect wildlife.
7. Be considerate of other visitors.

All of these principles aim toward minimizing damage to the wilderness that results from human use, thus sustaining the wilderness for future use and appreciation. Some of the principles should be obvious (though you might be surprised). For example, don’t use the bathroom in or near water sources, which you and others need water from in order to drink and cook. Make sure you pack out your trash and do not leave it on the trail or at the campsite. However, many of the principles and their applications are not so obvious, especially to beginners.

For example, don’t bath or wash clothes in water sources such as flowing creeks and rivers. People downstream will need to drink that water. Don’t use soap in any water source, even if it says ‘biodegradable.’ First of all, you shouldn’t be bathing or washing clothes near water sources. Moreover, soap, even the kind that claims to be “natural” or “biodegradable,” can cause algae to develop in and invade water sources. Nobody wants to look at a lake covered in green slime.

Don’t poop on the ground and merely cover it up. You should always dig a 6-8” hole to poop in. It should be obvious that you absolutely never just throw your toilet paper on the ground. Less obvious is that you shouldn’t bury your toilet paper either—animals might dig up your cat hole and hence your toilet paper. What should you do with it? Easy: pack it out. It’s not gross. Just double bag it. On the PCT there are lots of opportunities to throw your waste bag out. I never once got sick from or smelled my waste bag.

Do not bury excess food. This attracts animals. Human food can make backcountry animals sick. Moreover, bears can still smell buried food, and if bears are attracted to campsites this can lead to unwanted interactions, which can result in bears being put down by the park. You must pack out food waste. So plan ahead and make sure you cook only what you need to eat, which prevents having to deal with excess cooked food. Don’t wash your dishes in water sources and don’t throw your dishwater out on the ground—this can also attract animals. I always ate out of my cooking dish. When I was through I boiled water in it, cleaned the sides with my spoon, and made hot chocolate with the water. It was always delicious!

A merely flat surface is not sufficient for a responsible campsite. The surface also needs to be durable and free from vegetation. There are plenty of well-worn campsites on the PCT. Use those and avoid creating new ones. Even if there is sparse vegetation, do not pitch your tent if you can apply yourself and find a better campsite. Planning ahead is easy to do on the PCT, especially when you have Halfmile maps or use another PCT app, which lists established campsites on the trail.

Personally, I think that campfires are a complete waste on a thruhike, especially on the PCT. If it’s daylight out, you should be hiking; otherwise, you should be asleep in your tent. My natural sleep cycle on the trail was around 8:30 PM to around 5:00 AM almost every night, no alarm. Old growth should remain on the forest floor and not burned since it is an important part of the forest’s life cycle. Fire pits can negatively impact the soil, so always use preexisting pits if you must make a fire.  Most obviously, fires can get out of control, which can cause forest fires, destroying the wilderness, closing parts of the trail, and potentially wreak havoc on local communities. All of that said, if you make a campfire, make sure that you have the proper permits and that you are careful.

Be considerate of other hikers. For example, you are coming down a pass and someone is coming up, they get the right of way. The same goes for any part of the trail where you are clearly on a decline a hiker coming from the opposite direction is clearly on an incline. When in doubt, be courteous and move to the side if it is safe to do so. Also, equestrian riders always get the right of way. When someone on a horse is approaching, move off the trail. If you can, try to stay below the horse. If you move uphill over the horse, you may scare it and cause it to freak out.

Unfortunately, I noticed a lot of people not following the LNT principles while on the trail. On the first day out of Campo, another hiker, Michael, and I found an abandoned bear canister that contained a bunch of food and gear. Michael and I would have had to carry this abandoned gear out of the backcountry to Lake Morena if it had not been for a nice border patrol agent who took the gear for us. Whatever caused the hiker to have to abandon gear could have been avoided by preparing ahead. I found toilet paper all over the trail and at campsites throughout the desert and in the Sierras. Included in the multiple pieces of trash I picked up off of the trail was a bag filled with used toiletries, which I found just off of Muir Pass!  When I was climbing up the steep, rocky stretch of trail on the last mile to summit Whitney another hiker was blowing down the trail and did not yield, which forced me to scramble to find a safe spot. On numerous occasions I saw people bathing or washing their dishes in flowing streams and creeks. I also noticed people camping on vegetated areas. All of this negatively impacts the wilderness and detracts from the experiences of others (including, ironically, the future experiences of those who are being reckless). But all of this can be avoided by making ourselves aware of LNT and thinking more critically about how to follow LNT principles while on the trail and in the wilderness.

An Assumption

Still, someone might ask, Why? Why should I put thought and energy into learning and applying LNT principles before and while I’m in the wilderness? Can’t I just go out into the wilderness and have a good time? Isn’t all of this LNT stuff just rule mongering and people trying to micromanage my wilderness experience? Hike your own hike, right? Not quite. I would like to offer three arguments for why people should follow LNT principles and why they should critically apply these principles to their actions in the backcountry. But first, let me discuss an assumption that I will make: that we value and care about being in the wilderness to begin with. In general, one might question this assumption and wonder why we should care about the wilderness at all or why we shouldn’t just look at the wilderness solely as resource to be consumed. In other words, some people might see absolutely no reason to spend time in the wilderness and wonder why we should have national parks to begin with. I think this is an interesting question, but not the one I am considering here. I think for the purposes of the following arguments it is safe to assume that most people who venture into the wilderness do value and enjoy the wilderness either explicitly or implicitly and do care about what happens to it. I think that this is true for almost every reason people spend time in the wilderness—for those who seek an opportunity for solitude or contemplation, for those who seek to experience and understand the natural world free from the effects of human activity, for those who are seeking a thrill, and for those who like outdoor recreation and athletics. So I will assume that most people find at least some value and enjoyment in being in the wilderness and argue why then we should proactively behave in ways that sustain the wilderness.

Argument by Analogy

First, I’d like to make an analogy with public museums. One way to think of (designated) wilderness areas is as natural museums in the most literal sense of ‘natural.’ If you go to an art, science, or natural history museum, you likely find some enjoyment and value in exhibits that you experience and the space you experience them in. You probably do not leave your trash on the museum floor. You probably only use the restroom in designated areas. You probably do not shine bright lights in a planetarium. In art museums, you probably do not move the paintings. And you probably do not alter the paintings, e.g. you would not draw a moustache on the Mona Lisa. Moreover, you probably would be upset if you were trying to look at a painting but someone decided to stand directly in front of the painting for the duration of opening hours.  In a way, the backcountry isn’t any different. Many of us spend time in the backcountry to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of nature. Many people spend time in the backcountry to witness and to learn something about the geological formations and processes that shape the world we live in. Or they go to study life processes in the wilderness, from academically funded biologists to amateur birdwatchers. Having a genuine appreciation for the arts, for knowledge, and for the wilderness means cultivating a spirit of conservation and exemplifying qualities of reverence and respect. Since Leave No Trace Principles are aimed at conservation and preservation, having a genuine appreciation of the wilderness means following and applying these principles to your individual actions while you are in the backcountry.

Argument from Consequences

The second argument for following and applying LNT principles to your actions in the backcountry appeals to consequences. Suppose that what matters is maximizing goodness in the wilderness, e.g. the beauty, and minimizing badness, e.g. the destruction of natural habitats and the suffering of wildlife. Then you along with everyone else should follow LNT principle because the aggregate effect of not doing so has detrimental consequences for the wilderness. Close to or over 4 million people visit Yosemite every year. The numbers are similar or greater for other designated wilderness areas such as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Great Smokey Mountains, etc.  The aggregate effect of, say, not packing out toilet paper would result in huge amounts of toilet paper on the trail and in campsites throughout large swaths of the backcountry and increase the amount of sickness in the backcountry caused by human waste.  Or suppose that every person that visited a national park took their favorite piece of deadwood, antlers, etc. out the park on their visit or used these things in excess to build campfires. Since deadwood and animal remains are crucial to the health of soil and plant life, the aggregate effect overtime of misusing these things is a destroyed ecosystem and harmed wildlife. A similar story holds for responsible campfire practices. One careless mistake can result in the destruction of thousands of acres, homes in the surrounding communities and the closure of trails and wilderness areas. So, if the consequences of our behavior are what matter most to determining how we should behave in the wilderness, then we ought to follow and apply LNT principles when in the backcountry.

Argument from Rationality

You are not different from any of the other thousands to millions of people in the backcountry in any way that precludes you from the responsibility of environmental stewardship. So if you think that at least one person has an obligation to practice and apply the principles of LNT, then so do you. Moreover, it is irrational for any person not to follow LNT. You are likely visiting the wilderness because it is wild and not developed or because it is the backcountry and not the frontcountry. You are likely not going on a backpacking trip merely to walk 60 miles and sleep in a tent. After all, you can do that in the frontcountry—just walk 60 miles around your block and camp in your yard. There is something about being in the wilderness that you can’t get from being in the frontcountry. You don’t go to Disney World or some other amusement part to experience the wilderness, and you probably do not want to see outhouses, water treatment facilities, sidewalks, hear loud music or droves of drunk people, etc. while on your wilderness trip. So for any action you take in the backcountry ask yourself what would happen if everyone (all 4+ million) did the same thing. What if everyone used soap in natural water sources? What if everyone failed to properly dispose of human waste? What if everyone camped on surfaces with vegetation? What if everyone cut corners and hiked off trail? What would happen is the degradation of the natural habitats. We would have to install human waste facilities, water treatment facilities, etc. We would have to build more roads through the Sierras and the Rockies. In other words, the backcountry would slowly turn into the frontcountry. So by not following LNT you frustrate your own goal of doing your favorite activity in the backcountry as opposed to the frontcountry. Hence you should follow and apply LNT principles when in the backcountry.

In Conclusion

We are not fundamentally isolated beings. We have relationships of varying degrees to other people in the wilderness with us and in the surrounding communities. There is really no such thing as being alone in the wilderness—each one of us is a member of a larger community. So it is up to each one of us to act in ways that respects every member of that community and that also respects our mutual admiration for the wilderness.  Maybe some of these arguments are more convincing than others. That is fine. But I hope that at least one of these arguments is convincing enough and inspires someone to be more conscious of their impact on the wildnerness and to be more mindful about following LNT principles.