ETHICAL HIKING FOR 2016
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| Stay on designated trails |
During my 2015 hiking adventures, I
noticed a disturbing trend. It seems the popularity of
off-trail and bush whack hiking has been growing. I've witnessed this
firsthand, read endless news reports about off-trail hikers needing
rescue and saw hiking clubs promoting these types of outings on their
websites. Although cross country travel on some public land is not
necessarily illegal; I question the ethics of such use. Land
management agencies across the board are embracing sustainable
practices for recreational management. These include paying special
attention to trail construction, ATV access, group size limitations
and educating the public about the damage caused by irresponsible
use.
For hikers, the message is
simple----stick to established trails. This rally cry encompasses
more than the cartoonish cliche of the "militant tree-hugger".
It is supported by science (see one good source below) and rooted in
maintaining access while preserving irreplaceable resources for
future generations.
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| Don't trample pristine land---use the trail |
Here a just a few reasons why hikers should stay
on trails:
• Studies have shown that initial,
low levels of trampling on pristine land causes the most severe
damage.
• Unofficial social trails can cause
confusion and lead to hikers getting lost.
• Social trails are built without the
benefit of environment impact studies and are largely of poor design
making them dangerous for users and harmful to sensitive vegetation.
• Delicate soil crusts that contain
organisms essential for forest health take hundreds of years
to form are destroyed by one boot print.
• Off-trail exploring can harm
fragile archeological sites.
• There are hundreds of abandoned
mines in Arizona that are not obvious until somebody gets injured.
• Trail cutting and widening along
with carin building cause erosion and encourage others to follow
suit.
• Off-trail hikers can trigger higher
defense response in wildlife.
• Contrary to popular belief,
hiker-blazed routes are NOT automatically adopted into the land
agent's scope of official trails. If you have an idea for a new
trail---contact the agency.
• Even a short off-trail traipse to
find a good lunch spot causes damage. Take breaks on durable surfaces
like established camp sites or trail-side logs.
• The seeds of invasive species have
been documented to stay lodged in shoes for hundreds of miles. When
you cut into soft, untraveled land, these seeds may take root
causing devastating disruption of the ecosystem.
• Hiking off trail puts
the search and rescue workers who will come to save your butt at
unnecessary risk.
As the popularity of hiking
for leisure, fitness, healing and personal growth continues to rise,
paying attention to sustainability will become more and more
important.
My New Year's wish for 2016
is that individual hikers and groups alike adopt and share
sustainable trail ethics with a vengeance.
Arizona has a deep bench of
hiking clubs that organize events, teach skills, donate countless
hours of volunteer work and foster lasting friendships and a love of
the outdoors. These same wonderful clubs have a great opportunity to
promote stewardship by example.
See you on the trail in
2016!
Leave No Trace Center for
Outdoor Ethics
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