Utah Office of Tourism Partners With Leave No Trace To Encourage Responsible Recreation Practices
Keep Utah ‘Forever Mighty’® by Practicing Leave No Trace, Tourism and Conservation Leaders say
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (JAN. 25, 2023) — The Utah Office of Tourism (UOT) is reminding all to allow Utah to remain Forever Mighty® through its new partnership with the environmental stewardship organization Leave No Trace.
Those looking to enjoy the great outdoors will be prompted to look for and learn the Leave No Trace principles and take pride in the state’s Forever Mighty® initiative, especially as tourism and outdoor recreation pick up as the summer approaches.
“Aligning our Forever Mighty® initiative with the terrific work that Leave No Trace has done for years just makes sense,” says UOT Managing Director Vicki Varela. “This partnership will set a clear list of principles we can all follow in our shared ethos of responsible recreation.”
For over 25 years, the Leave No Trace organization has been working to educate and inform the public and those managing public lands on the most effective and least resource-intensive methods of land protection, most of which stand as small acts of personal responsibility. Leave No Trace is widely known for its seven key principles, which have been supplemented with the Forever Mighty® mindset.
“Leave No Trace is thrilled to be working with the Utah Office of Tourism,” says Leave No Trace Director of Sustainable Tourism Andrew Leary. “Whether someone is new to Utah or already spends a lot of time recreating in all corners of the state, everyone can make a difference to help reduce ecological and cultural impacts on public and tribal lands in Utah.”
The new Utah Leave No Trace Seven Principles also presented an opportunity to use the platform to voice awareness of cultural heritage impacts caused by visitors to tribal lands. Within Utah are eight federally recognized Indian tribes that experience varying levels of visitor impacts each year.
“Tribal communities face unique visitor impacts when compared to visible impacts that people are familiar with in federal and state-managed park spaces,” says Leary. “Ahead of visiting, it is crucial that all travelers seek out information directly from the tribe itself to further understand what respectful and responsible visitation actually means.”
Additionally, visitors are encouraged to Plan Ahead and Prepare for their trip as not all tribal communities within Utah are open to visitors amid the ongoing COVID-19 endemic.
The Utah Leave No Trace 7 Principles are:
- Know Before You Go Being prepared for your adventure will protect our land, waters, and wildlife and ensure you enjoy your trip.
- Stick to Trails and Overnight Right Sticking to established roads, trails and campsites helps to protect trailside vegetation, living biological soil crust, and archaeological sites as well as reduces visitor conflicts and keeps you safe.
- Trash Your Trash Trash including food waste, can take years to decompose, is harmful for wildlife, and can contaminate water sources. Protect water sources by properly disposing of pet and human waste.
- Protect Indigenous Cultural Heritage Help protect the legacy as well as spiritual and cultural connections by leaving evidence of past peoples as you found them.
- Minimize Campfire Impacts Gusty winds and dry conditions increase the risk of wildfire. Always check to see if fires are allowed. Keeping fires small and completely extinguishing them can also prevent disastrous fires.
- Keep Wildlife Wild Keeping your distance and not feeding wildlife or allowing them access to your food will keep you, your pets, and wildlife safe.
- Share Our Parks, Trails, and Roads Being considerate of local communities and those that you share outdoor spaces with helps ensure that everyone enjoys their experience in Utah’s natural spaces, no matter how they prefer to do it.
To spread the Leave No Trace guidelines in conjunction with the Forever Mighty® principles, the UOT has prepared a suite of industry resources including printed materials, social media posts, video and photo series, and a web presence with online courses prepared by Leave No Trace educators. These tools will help local tourism partners share these important messages with visitors as well as residents.
More information on the partnership between UOT’s Forever Mighty® initiative and Leave No Trace can be found here.
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About the Utah Office of Tourism –– The Utah Office of Tourism's (UOT) mission is to elevate life in Utah through responsible tourism stewardship. We do this through marketing, stewardship, and development. Marketing: UOT curates messaging that inspires visitation, supports local businesses, and builds the Utah economy. Stewardship: UOT manages visitation statewide and supports the responsible discovery of Utah. Development: UOT partners with local communities to enhance and develop their visitor economies to benefit residents and visitors. Learn more at visitutah.com and travel.utah.gov.
About Leave No Trace –– Leave No Trace is an international movement, program and nonprofit organization that uses the power of science, education and stewardship, to ensure a sustainable future for the outdoors and the planet. The organization accomplishes this mission by delivering state-of-the-art education and research to millions of people across the country U.S., alone each year. For more information: www.LNT.org.
