Quetico Provincial park is Canada’s sister park to the US’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Quetico is managed in a more wilderness-y manner than BWCA. The Quetico has fewer and more restrictive permits and entry locations. In the BWCA you must camp in established campsites, each with a fire grate and a latrine. In the Quetico the campsites are informal and established by use (some by centuries of use). Trips in the Quetico and BWCA formed much of the foundation of my relationship with the natural environment. Traveling through these glacial filled lakes on silent canoes, I felt a connection not only to my natural surroundings, but to the people who had traveled these waters before me. Basalt bluffs towered over deep dark water, and along the water’s edge ocher and bear grease pictographs mark events from long ago. Learning more about the history of the area, I read about the stories and legends of the area, discovering that we traveled and camped at some We traveled portages and camped at sites that had been used by tribes, traders, and lumberjacks before us. To their stories, I’ve added my own memories of the places, companions, and my own life circumstances when I visited there.
Many years ago, we were traveling west following long striations of lakes that form the US-Canada border. We had set out to cover many miles that day, but a persistent rain and breeze had made our travels slow. The chill sapped us of our strength and spirits, we started to look for camp. One-by-one we would reach a site marked on the map only to find it occupied – the rain was causing everyone to hunker down – and we would paddle on. Each time a little colder and a little more disheartened. So when we finally saw a site location marked on the map, but without any signs of habitation, we headed for land to camp no matter what awaited us.
In “Beyond Fair Chase: The Ethic and Tradition of Hunting”, Jim Posewitz defines ethical hunting as: “knowing and respecting the animals; obeying the law; and behaving in the right way.” The principles of LNT fill the third part of Posewitz’s ethic – “behaving in the right way.” But Posewitz further captures concepts that Leave No Trace education lacks in its present formulation. Further integration of the rest of Posewitz’s ethic provide more context and depth to the meaning and practice of Leave No Trace.
Posewitz leads his ethic with knowledge, specifically knowledge of the biotic community. “You need to be familiar with the field, the woods, the marsh, the forest, or the mountains… go afield often enough and stay out long enough and… you will become less of an intruder.” Many outdoor recreators, particularly those newly engaging the outdoors, are lacking in this knowledge. At the same time there is a desire for a pristine vista, a back country adventure, or a bagged peak; there is a resistance to investigation, contemplation, and understanding of the environment in which these activities take place. This creates a sense that the environment is there to be consumed. A view or a location that garners attention when used as the backdrop when re-creating, for example, a restaurant, climbing gym, or spin class experience.
I just saw an ad for trail running shoes that depicted a woman running alone on an alpine trail. The tagline was “no experience required.” While she may be physically capable of the effort, without experience, aren’t you not just left with the effort? Without experience, is there any consideration for why such a trail exists in this alpine environment, the animal and plant communities through which it courses, and the people who’s histories are now intertwining with hers through the shared experience of this trail. Without any of these, there is no incentive to make the effort to leave no trace.
In Posewitz’ ethic, after the why – rooted in knowledge and respect, he sets the floor for ethical behavior – obey the law. Ethical behavior starts with what is permitted and what is not. All land, whether public, private, or private with public access has a person or group of people responsible for its management. These people know these parcels of land better than all if not nearly all the people who will recreate on the land. While there may be times for persuasion and change, the rules and regulations that they establish are done so with a view to balance management and preservation of the resources and user’s desired activities. Talking about public access, there are very few areas deemed so sensitive or important that the permitted use (for people) is “none”, for the rest, the permitted uses are dictated by the resource, the culture or history of an area, and the behavior of the users themselves. Once defined, these permitted uses form the “what” of recreation in an area, be it hiking, camping, foraging, mountain biking, rock climbing, or others. The “how” of the recreation is further defined both by the laws but also our own behaviors, in this way, leave no trace, as an ethic sets forth the ceiling of the behaviors to preserve the resource, while engaging in the permitted activities.
Especially in the last year, the influx of people to our public spaces, have included more people recreating at or below the floor of behavior. The effects of over-recreation are wreaking havoc on more and more of our public spaces, and it seems that relying upon an ethic is not sufficient, and that unfortunately more codification of the “how” of recreation may be necessary to further maintain these areas.
Beyond Fair Chase misses an important part though. This is likely a mere oversight in condensing his thoughts and experiences from 32 years working in wildlife and park management. But a part of knowledge and respect is having experiences, reflecting on those experiences, and doing better the next time.
When we reached land on that cold and rainy day in the Quetico, the location had clearly not been used as a campsite in years. However, motivated by the cold and tired we set to clearing that site. The axes and saws came out. We cut living trees and split dead ones to reach the remaining dry heartwood. The fire-ring was rebuilt and soon contained a blaze of our slash as we cut spots for tents and a kitchen. In a few hours we were warm, fed, and had reversed years of natural reclamation.
Aldo Leopold knew first hand this to be true, it was with reflection on watching an old wolf die at his hands, that he learned that the mountain and the biotic community living on it share an experience and a time horizon far different from that experienced by a man. Leopold’s land ethic resulting from reflection on this and other experiences sought to articulate an expansion his ethical sphere to the land and biotic communities therein, so too does reflection on our own experiences lead us to do better. As Pozewitz put it to reach a point where “…within myself I knew I done right.”
I’ll hold the memory of that distant cold and wet day as a reminder that I can do better, of the destruction that is possible through my direct actions, and the need to hold myself accountable. I’ll use this example for others so that they can learn from it, so that the next time I can say I “knew I done right.”