Leave No Trace is a practice to sustain healthy, vibrant natural lands for all people to enjoy, now and into the future by minimizing human impacts.  To ensure that the ecosystems of The Bob remain healthy and intact while allowing visitors to experience this spectacular wilderness area, Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation encourages our community of wilderness visitors to practice Leave No Trace principles.

The 7 principles of Leave No Trace are:

  1. Plan ahead and prepare

    • Know the regulations and special concerns for the area you'll visit

    • Prepare for extreme weather, hazards, and emergencies

    • Schedule your trip to avoid times of high use

    • Visit in small groups- split larger parties into groups of 4-6

    • Repackage foo to minimize waste

    • Use a map and compass to eliminate the use of rock cairns, flagging or marking points

  2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces

    • Durable surfaces include established trails and campsites, rock, gravel, dry grasses or snow

    • Protect riparian areas by camping at least 200 feet from lakes and streams

    • Good campsites are found, not made. Altering a site is not necessary.

    • In popular areas concentrate use on existing trails and campsites, walk in single file in the middle of the trail (even when wet or muddy), keep campsites small, and focus activity in areas where vegetation is absent.

    • In pristine areas disperse use to prevent the creation of campsites and trails and avoid places where impacts are just beginning

  3. Dispose of waste properly

    • Pack it in, pack it out. Inspect your campsite and rest areas for trash or spilled foods. Pack out all trash, leftover food, and litter

    • Deposit solid human waste in catholes dug 6-8 inches deep at least 200 feet from water, camp, and trails. Cover and disguise the cathole when finished

    • Pack out toilet paper and hygiene products

    • To wash yourself or your dishes, cary water 200 feet away from streams or lakes and use small amounts of biodegradable dish soap. Scatter strained dish water.

  4. Leave what you find

    • Preserve the past: examine, but do not touch, culture or historic structures and artifacts

    • Leave rocks, plants and other natural objects as you find them

    • Avoid introducing or transporting non-native species

    • Do not build structures, furniture, or dig trenches

  5. Minimize campfire impacts

    • Campfires can cause lasting impacts to the backcountry. Use a light-weight stove for cooking and enjoy a candle lantern for light

    • Where fires are permitted, use established fire rings, fire pans, or mound fires

    • Keep fires small. Only use sticks from the ground that can be broken by hand

    • Burn all wood and coals to ash, put out campfires completely, then scatter cool ashes

  6. Respect Wildlife

    • Observe wildlife from a distance. Do not follow or approach them

    • Never feed animals. Feeding wildlife damages their health, alters natural behaviors, and exposes them to predators and other dangers

    • Protect wildlife and your food by storing rations and trash securely

    • Control pets at all times, or leave them at home

    • Avoid wildlife during sensitive times: mating, nesting, raising young or winter

  7. Be considerate of other visitors

    • Respect other visitors and protect the quality of their experience

    • Be courteous: yield to other users on the trail

    • Step to the downhill side of the trail when encountering pack stock

    • Take breaks and camp away from trails and other visitors

    • Let natures' sounds prevail: avoid loud voices and noises