For outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers, recreating and enjoying The National Parks, National Forests, and other public lands is a cherished activity. Due to the pandemic, millions of Americans have also discovered these spaces which have led to an uptick of use. While I'm a big fan of more people discovering and enjoying our public lands, I definitely wish there was a crash course on recreating responsibly.
2025 will likely continue to see large numbers of visitors flocking to National Parks and other public lands during peak season for vacation. However, this year there is the added
challenge of being under the Trump administration. An administration that sees no value in nature, that is actively working to undermine conservation efforts and has rescinded job offers for all seasonal positions that were made by the NPS and over 1,000 full-time park rangers have been fired. In late 2024 the National Forest Service announced that they no longer have the funding to hire new staff. Additionally, nearly 500 employees of the National Forest Service have been fired. These firings and rescinding of offers include EMTs, seasonal law enforcement rangers and wildland firefighter, these roles are all key to help providing a safe and enjoyable experience for visitors to our parks. Public lands will be understaffed, lacking resources, and they need our help to survive and thrive. Where do we come in and what can we do to help?
Volunteering is perhaps the easiest way to get involved and help out. Our parks and public lands offer ample opportunities to offer our time and skills. From assisting on research projects, to trail maintenance and in public facing rolls in the information and visitor centers. Don't want to volunteer alone? Grab a friend or alternatively many local hiking groups often volunteer especially doing trail maintenance, parks often have hundreds of miles of trails and when staffing and resources are limited, the most popular ones will get maintenance, and the less traveled ones will end up neglected. While many people stay on the popular trails, enthusiasts often want to get off the beaten path (figuratively, not literally) and enjoy the solitude these lesser used trails bring.
Know and follow the principles of Leave No Trace. For some of us these are a no-brainer and come as second nature. But if you're just starting to get into hiking or even if you're a seasoned hiker, it doesn't hurt to review them as I've seen even experience hikers/backpackers not following them. If you're new to enjoying the outdoors, the principles of Leave No Trace (LNT) are guidelines to help us minimize our impact on the environment and have a safe and enjoyable in nature.
1) Plan Ahead & Prepare - Whether you're going for a day hike, a multi-day backpacking trip, kayaking or mountain biking, planning and preparation is important. This can include looking up/downloading maps, checking the weather and making sure you have the appropriate gear and equipment. You can check out planning and gear checklists here and for more detailed tips you can check out a more in-depth article here or video here.
2) Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces - While bushwhacking, taking a shortcut or pitching
your tent wherever you want might sound tempting, all of these can be extremely damaging to fragile ecosystems. With an administration that is so anti-science and anti-environment, and less rangers to work on conservation projects, it's more important than ever to do our part to help our parks and public lands maintain these fragile environments. In many National Parks any kind of camping is strictly limited to designated sites and stealth camping is not allowed, this is to protect the environment and ensure the safety of visitors, report any illegal camping that you see.
3) Dispose of Waste Properly - Pack it in pack it out. A huge aspect of leave no trace is making sure anything you bring into to natural spaces; you also take out. This includes things like orange peels and apple cores, which many people assume are fine to leave since they will decompose quickly and are "natural". However, they may not be native to the environment where you are and can be considered an invasive species. For more tips on waste storage and backcountry hygiene you can check out these tip sheets, or this video.
4) Minimize Campfire Impacts - Who doesn't love relaxing around a campfire at the end of a day of hiking? (besides my bff when in California). Before you light up that fire, make sure you check if there are any fire bans in the areas where you will be hiking and camping. In addition, check to see if there are any fire restrictions, often fires are prohibited over a certain elevation due to wind and high fire danger. If you do have a fire, you should try to use established fire rings instead of building a new one. In addition, you should only burn wood from the area where you are hiking/camping, many campgrounds have restrictions about bringing in your own wood. You also shouldn't burn trash or anything other than wood in your fire. Finally, make sure the fire is completely out before you go to bed.
5) Leave What You Find - Nature is full of lots of cool, beautiful and fascinating things!
Removing rocks, plants etc. from nature can disturb the environment. Take a picture, buy a replica at a gift shop, but leave the pinecones where you found them.
6) Respect Wildlife - When we recreate outside, something to keep in mind is that you are coming to coming into the home of all kinds of wildlife. Respecting wildlife means, disposing of your trash properly, not feeding the wildlife, not trying to pet them and not getting close to them or chasing them for pictures. Don't be that visitor. It also means following proper food storage, especially in bear country. Make sure to check the guidelines for what types of food storage are required in the backcountry and utilize bear boxes at campsites and trailheads. Remember a fed bear is a dead bear.
7) Be considerate of Other Visitors - We're all after the same thing, enjoying nature and it is a shared space. When on trail, avoid using Bluetooth speakers (or just the speaker on your phone) to play music. Move to the side of the trail to let faster hikers pass you and remember that hikers going downhill should yield to hikers going uphill. In camp, be aware of your noise levels especially after 10pm when many people are trying to sleep. Try to avoid walking through other people's campsites without asking. If you see another visitor may be in distress or need some kind of help, check-in with them and see if you can be of assistance, with less rangers available for emergencies, we need to
It's also important to follow all posted signs and notices, especially those asking visitors/hikers to staff off or out of certain areas. Even experienced outdoor enthusiasts often ignore signs asking them to stay on trails or not to camp in certain areas. Asing visitors to stay off/out of certain areas can be for your safety, or to protect a delicate environment, so respect the signs and don't think you know better.
If a permit is required for backcountry camping or a hike that you want to do, make sure you get it. Permits are important as they help protect the wilderness by minimizing activity and they give rangers a rough number of how many people are in a particular area or on a hike. Areas that are used more by truly avid hikers, such as less popular trails and the backcountry see less staff even when the park has appropriate staffing levels, with less staff they will need to focus on the most used areas. There is always a chance of running into a ranger while in the backcountry who will ask for your permit and not having one can lead to fines and even bans from parks.
Be patient and kind with the rangers and staff that are working or volunteering. Lines may be long and services either delayed, slow or non-existent and the visitor experience may feel like it's lacking. It's important to remember that the staff are doing the best they can with insufficient personal and resources, volunteers can help fill the gaps but they may not be as knowledgeable as rangers and remember that they are giving their time because they love our parks and public lands. To help you have a smoother experience be sure to plan ahead, give yourself more time, bring toilet paper for the bathrooms, etc. For an extra act of kindness, take a moment to thank the rangers and volunteers, let them know you appreciate their work and understand the limitations they are working with.
Consider visiting State Parks, National Forests, smaller National Parks, National Monuments
and other BLM lands to reduce the traffic and strain on resources on the most popular National Parks. Some of my favorite areas to visit near where I live are National Forests and National Wilderness areas, and I'm using this year as an opportunity to visit more of the Public Lands closer to my house that I've been meaning to visit but have been putting off in favor of bigger Parks.
A lack of rangers increases the chances of vandalism, relic hunting and other illegal activates in our Parks. If you see someone not following park rules or the leave no trace principles, take time to educate them (nicely) on what the proper behavior is and why it's important. Just because there are no or less rangers doesn't mean there are no rules, call out and report destructive behavior such as vandalism graffiti and carving trees or rocks. Not everyone will be receptive to feedback, but some people may just be new to outdoor experiences and just not know.
We want to welcome more people into the outdoors and show them what a welcoming and friendly community we have, as Tommy Caldwell said " The more people that are involved in nature, the more people will care about nature." and we really want to encourage more people to care about nature and our parks.
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