Leave No Trace – Colorado's Four Mile Hotspot

For Immediate Release

Contact: Ben Lawhon, Education Director
Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics
303-442-8222 x103 or ben@LNT.org
www.LNT.org



The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics to provide training and outreach for Colorado’s Fourmile Hot Spot in April.

March 26, 2012 (Boulder, CO): The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics in cooperation with the Friends of Fourmile will be hosting two Leave No Trace training and outreach events in April as part of the Fourmile Hot Spot. The Center’s Hot Spots program focuses on reversing the environmental damage caused in extremely popular recreational areas around the country through community outreach, locally tailored education, Leave No Trace training for key land management staff and volunteers, messages to the public, consultation, educational materials and local collaboration.

In January, the Leave No Trace Center selected the Fourmile Area near Buena Vista, Colorado as a Leave No Trace Hot Spot and has been working with nonprofit and federal partners, including the USDA Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, on a variety of initiatives to benefit the area. Near both Denver and Colorado Springs, Fourmile is one of the most heavily used areas in central Colorado and recreation-related impacts are significant and growing.

A key component of the Fourmile Hot Spot effort is educating youth about responsible enjoyment of the area. To that end Leave No Trace educators will be providing outreach to high school students in Buena Vista in late April. The intent of this interactive outreach is to help young outdoor enthusiasts understand how to leave the places they ride, hike or camp in as good or better condition than they found them. “Young people are critically important to the effort because someday they will ultimately be the stewards of Fourmile,” said Ben Lawhon, Education Director for the Leave No Trace Center.

Additionally, to equip both volunteers for the Friends of Fourmile and federal land managers, the Leave No Trace Center is providing training in late April on Leave No Trace skills and ethics as well as effective public outreach strategies. “Knowledge of Leave No Trace skills, and techniques for effectively sharing those skills with outdoor enthusiasts, is critically important for the overall efforts at Fourmile,” continued Lawhon.

Other components of the Hot Spot effort will include developing Fourmile-specific Leave No Trace information, hosting a Leave No Trace community-based event in Fourmile to raise awareness on Memorial Day weekend, a service/learning project to mitigate existing recreation-related damage, and providing consultation on best management practices for minimizing future impacts in the Fourmile Area.

For information about either of these opportunities, visit: http://www.garna.org/friends-of-fourmile.htm

About the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics
The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics teaches people of all ages how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly, and is the most widely accepted outdoor ethics program used on lands used by the public for recreation. As the leader in sustainable recreation practices, the Center trains a nation of outdoor advocates to put Leave No Trace principles into action. Through relevant and targeted education, research and outreach, the Center seeks to ensure the long-term health of our natural world. www.LNT.org.

For more information on the 2012 Hot Spots initiative, as well as ways to get involved, visit http://www.lnt.org/01_community/hotspots.php