Partners for Preservation

The AMC and Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics

By Michael Lanza

A few years ago, the nonprofit organization Leave No Trace, whose guidelines on low-impact backcountry practices are widely endorsed by conservation groups and land managers across the country, was looking for an organization in the East to teach its program. The National Outdoor Leadership School was already handling that role in the West. After soliciting applications from about 20 different organizations, Leave No Trace picked the AMC to teach its Master Educator course.

"I think it was a fairly clear choice, picking an organization that would have a widespread influence," says Hawk Metheny, AMC Backcountry Management Specialist and Leave No Trace Coordinator, one of many AMC staff qualified to teach the Leave No Trace Master Educator courses. The AMC launched its first Master Educator course for the public in May 2000, and since have offered over 40 courses and successfully trained 350 individuals.

The Master Educator course is a five-day program in which Leave No Trace Principles are taught to people Metheny describes as "front-line backcountry educators," including land managers, trip leaders, guides, AMC staff, Scout leaders, and summer-camp trip leaders. People completing the Master Educator course can teach a two-day Trainer course.

"If we say to somebody, 'You can't camp here', they may say OK but not know why," Metheny says. "If we can give them an understanding of low-impact practices, that's something they can take on every backcountry trip."

—Michael Lanza is author of The Ultimate Guide to Backcountry Travel, from AMC Books.