Req 4a — Leave No Trace
The backcountry is not a theme park — there is no maintenance crew sweeping up after you leave. Every footprint, fire ring, and food wrapper has a lasting impact on the landscape, the wildlife, and the next group of hikers who walk the same trail. Leave No Trace is the ethical framework that keeps wild places wild.
The Leave No Trace Seven Principles
These seven principles were developed by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics and are the gold standard for responsible backcountry travel:
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare. Research regulations, weather, and trail conditions before you go. Proper planning prevents situations where you are forced to damage the environment out of desperation — like building an illegal fire because you forgot your stove.
2. Travel on Durable Surfaces. Stick to established trails and camp on existing campsites, rock, gravel, or dry grass. Walking off-trail crushes fragile vegetation that can take years to recover.
3. Dispose of Waste Properly. Pack out everything you pack in — food scraps, wrappers, hygiene products, everything. You will learn more about waste disposal in Requirement 4b.
4. Leave What You Find. Do not pick wildflowers, take rocks, or carve your initials into trees. Leave natural and cultural features exactly as you found them.
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts. Use a stove for cooking instead of a campfire whenever possible. If fires are permitted and appropriate, use established fire rings and burn only small sticks gathered from the ground. See Requirement 8 for more on stoves.
6. Respect Wildlife. Observe animals from a distance. Never feed wildlife — human food can make animals sick and teaches them to approach people, which often leads to the animal being relocated or euthanized.
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors. Keep noise down, yield the trail to uphill hikers and pack animals, and camp away from other groups when possible.
The Outdoor Code
The BSA Outdoor Code is a pledge that every Scout should know:
As an American, I will do my best to — Be clean in my outdoor manners, Be careful with fire, Be considerate in the outdoors, and Be conservation-minded.
The Outdoor Code complements Leave No Trace by emphasizing personal responsibility. Being “clean in your outdoor manners” means leaving every campsite cleaner than you found it. Being “conservation-minded” means thinking about the long-term health of the wilderness, not just your weekend trip.
Five Ways to Lessen Your Crew’s Impact
Here are practical actions your crew can take to reduce your footprint in the backcountry:
1. Cook with a stove, not a campfire. Campfires scar the ground, consume dead wood that shelters insects and small animals, and leave behind charcoal and ash. A backpacking stove is faster, lighter, and leaves zero trace.
2. Use designated campsites. When available, camp in established sites rather than creating new ones. If you must camp in a pristine area, spread your group out to avoid concentrating impact, and move on after one night.
3. Pack out all trash — including micro-trash. Tiny items like candy wrappers, twist ties, and broken zip ties are easy to miss. Assign one crew member to do a thorough sweep of your campsite before you leave.
4. Wash dishes and yourself at least 200 feet from water sources. Soap, food particles, and sunscreen contaminate streams and lakes that animals and other hikers depend on. Carry water to your wash site in a pot and scatter the strained dishwater over a wide area.
5. Stay on the trail, especially in sensitive environments. Alpine meadows, desert cryptobiotic soil, and riparian (streamside) zones are extremely fragile. A single shortcut across a switchback can cause erosion that takes decades to repair.