Partners for preservation — the AMC and Leave No Trace

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 masters course.

"I think it was a fairly clear choice, picking an organization that would have a widespread influence," says Kevin "Hawk" Metheny, field supervisor for the AMC's White Mountains campsites and shelters and one of three AMC staff qualified to teach the Leave No Trace masters course. The AMC launched its first masters course for the public in May 2000.

The masters 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 masters 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 into the backcountry."

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