Leave No Trace Trainer Course

My name is Quinton Waddy, I am the Outdoor Ethics Guide for Troop 1188 in Manassas, VA. I am a Life Scout working on my Eagle Scout rank. During a weekend in October my father and I took the Leave No Trace Trainer course, which is recognized by Scouts BSA, and the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. The Cub Scout, Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Sea Scout programs all include outdoor stewardship, care for the environment, and Leave No Trace as part of their programs. This Course is designed to enhance your understanding of Leave No Trace practices and outdoor ethics, and to increase your level of expertise and confidence in teaching Leave No Trace skills.

My experience taking the LNT Trainer course was amazing. You can take the course in a car-camping setting or as a backpacking trip, I chose the backpacking trip for a more hands-on experience. I met many wonderful people and made new friends. There are seven parts to LNT: Plan Ahead and Prepare; Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces; Dispose of Waste Properly; Leave What You Find; Minimize Campfire Impacts; Respect Wildlife; and Be Considerate of Other Visitors.

I enjoyed my time learning about the different parts of LNT from keeping our environment clean to digging cat holes. I went in thinking it was going to be an awkward and boring weekend, but I enjoyed every second of it because of the fun and games each trainee had planned for their subjects they had to teach. I taught Pack it in Pack it out. I had my fellow trainees play a matching game with the time it takes an item to be processed back into the earth and the chronological order of them to degrade. They had a fun time figuring it out and it worked on their communication, leadership, and teambuilding skills. The program gets everyone in attendance involved, anyone participating will teach a subject and play the games that are created by the teacher of each subject.

This program has helped me and my Troop out so much already. I had the Scouts in my Troop and in the Cub Scouts practice Leave No Trace while they were doing Scouting for Food. Leave No Trace is a great program and I recommend that all Scouts take it because it goes more in depth to the meaning of our Outdoor Code.