Leave No Trace Ethics

[+eagletrek]

Today, I shined my light into a hole in a tree and stuck a stick in there to see if anything was lurking deeper. In my rush to discover the micro, I totally forgot my Leave No Trace Ethics. I actually disturbed a mouse and its home in the tree.

 

How many times have you broken branches, torn down spider webs or flattened brush in the process of looking for a cache? What is the responsibility of the geocaching community when it comes from holding cachers and cache-hiders to appropriate environmental ethics? Even if their cache doesn't disturb the environment, is there someway to ensure that the people looking for it won't be tempted to jump around on cryptobiotic soil or disturb animals' habitats in the process?

 

My particular pet peve is microcaches hidden in back country areas. If you have a huge area with lots of great hiding places, why make the cache the size of a film canister? The bigger the cache (within reason), the smaller the environmental impact. It may sound counter-intuitive, but if you have a tiny cache that's hard to find, more destruction will be done by cachers poking around and impacting the area.

 

What do you think?

 

While I'm all for Leave No Trace Ethics, are you really adhereing to them yourself??? You mentioned Cryptobiotic Soil. In reading the National Park Service info sheet, I learned that: "Air pollutants, both from urban areas and coal-fired power plants, also harm these crusts." So if you're really concerned about Leave No Trace Ethics, I'm certain that you only ride a bicycle to all cache sites and the computer you're using to make this post is powered only by a wind turbine.

 

What about the increased use of motor vehicles, of all types, that cachers use on a regular basis to partake in this sport, hobby, obsession, etc..... I can tell you that I've easily driven 30,000+ miles in finding caches since I started this "hobby." I guess I need to start walking as I've made one big imprint with "My Carbon Footprint."

[+Team Cotati]

Actually there is no way to leave "NO" trace.

 

Everything there is even the critters leave a trace of their passings.

 

My main concern and I got a letter from our local Forest Ranger is geocachers who remove things other than what is inside the cache.

I have a special cache at a geologic point of interest and a long time geocacher who is suppose to be aware and is the local contact left right in their log that they just had to have some of what was there and took it home with them.

 

Mr. Ranger was not to pleased.

I then made a little banner for all my cache pages that reads

LEAVE NO TRACE.

 

I know we can not do this completely by my opening statement.

But we can and try to leave it as good or better than we found it.

 

That spider was not there before the cache...he came after.

I run across critters all the time in the back woods.

That's only natural your in their home.

 

I think that the big concern is their nesting spots.

In most states it is illegal to take things or disturb nests.

 

Here is a good example.

A buck was walking down the trail as he stumbled on a rock that was in the trail it disturbed the moth that had crawled under there trying to nest.

The rock then rolled down the hill and hit a mushroom that had just sprouted and broke it off at the base.

A nosey squirrel sitting in a tree above scampered down tearing the bark on the tree to get to the mushroom.

The buck turned to see what the commotion was and caught its horn in a spider web that was across the trail tearing it down as the spider frantically hung to the horn.

 

It is really up to each and everyone of us to be aware and do the best we can to leave things for others in the best way we can.

Being responsible is a BIG thing.

 

What are the things that are being missed in this: http://www.lnt.org/programs/principles.php

[+eagletrek]

Actually there is no way to leave "NO" trace.

 

Everything there is even the critters leave a trace of their passings.

 

My main concern and I got a letter from our local Forest Ranger is geocachers who remove things other than what is inside the cache.

I have a special cache at a geologic point of interest and a long time geocacher who is suppose to be aware and is the local contact left right in their log that they just had to have some of what was there and took it home with them.

 

Mr. Ranger was not to pleased.

I then made a little banner for all my cache pages that reads

LEAVE NO TRACE.

 

I know we can not do this completely by my opening statement.

But we can and try to leave it as good or better than we found it.

 

That spider was not there before the cache...he came after.

I run across critters all the time in the back woods.

That's only natural your in their home.

 

I think that the big concern is their nesting spots.

In most states it is illegal to take things or disturb nests.

 

Here is a good example.

A buck was walking down the trail as he stumbled on a rock that was in the trail it disturbed the moth that had crawled under there trying to nest.

The rock then rolled down the hill and hit a mushroom that had just sprouted and broke it off at the base.

A nosey squirrel sitting in a tree above scampered down tearing the bark on the tree to get to the mushroom.

The buck turned to see what the commotion was and caught its horn in a spider web that was across the trail tearing it down as the spider frantically hung to the horn.

 

It is really up to each and everyone of us to be aware and do the best we can to leave things for others in the best way we can.

Being responsible is a BIG thing.

 

What are the things that are being missed in this: http://www.lnt.org/programs/principles.php

 

Ya know the LNT folks would be better served if someone checked out their photos before they used them for promotional purposes. I wonder how the manufacturing of the tent with it's synthetic fabric and aluminum or graphite poles impacted the planet and its environment???? Have you ever seen an aluminum smelting operation and its associated infrastructure????? Based on their concept, there should be butt naked human standing on a rock overlooking the ocean.

Edited February 22, 2008 by eagletrek

[knowschad]

Let's see...

 

We get into our automobile, and we drive to the cache area. We get out of our vehicle and turn on our GPS, hoping that our batteries are still good. And we're going out into the woods to look for either a piece of tupperware (plastic) or an ammo box (steel... think foundries) just so we can sign our name on a piece of paper (oh... and maybe trade out some cute little disposable plastic toy ). Then, when we get back home, we power up our computer and go onto the internet to log our finds.

 

... and we lose sleep over a disturbed mouse?

[+Team Cotati]

What, is it the 'Ethics' part that's got you people all in a lather?

Edited February 22, 2008 by Team Cotati

[Mushtang]

What are the things that are being missed in this:

What, is it the 'Ethics' part that's you people all in a lather?

 

[+edscott]

One of my first "micro in the woods" finds was in a crack in a large moss covered rock. I was among the first 10 finders, and by the time I got there the rock had been totally stripped of its covering which was lying in a heap beside the rock. Was this the hider's fault? Of course not. The lone boulder was the obvious spot and the crack was easy to spot. Searchers need to be careful not to disturb the environment as they look for the cache, however hiders do need to avoid needle in the haystack hides that tend to invite destructive searching. Takes some common sense from both parties.