While I was camping last month in the Smoky Mountains, I was appalled to watch as our camping neighbors gathered a large tub of river rocks to take home with them. I was further surprised to learn that the “taking” of native plants is so widespread that it’s actually causing an imbalance of those ecosystems – causing some plants to become more and more rare.
I wholly encourage all of you to get out there and find something new. Spend time with your family and friends. Go somewhere different. Explore and challenge yourself. Stop and experience the world around you. But do it responsibly!
Here are a few helpful websites with outdoor activities and ideas to help you minimize your impact on nature while you’re exploring.
Leave No Trace is a wonderful organization that explores “active stewardship of the outdoors”. The site teaches how to be more aware of our impact on nature as we spend time enjoying it.
The National Wildlife Federation has a fantastic resource called “Be Out There” that lists tons of activities and things to do while outdoors.
The USDA Forest Service has some helpful checklists for camping and hiking. There are also some great tips for a better experience while outdoors.
How do you keep your impact to a minimum while spending time outdoors?
Not Dabbling In Normal 
We grew up in norther Calf, camping for us was following old logging roads to the end and that is where we camped. My parents taught us by example to respect nature. We were taught to leave a place better than we found it. ie, pick up trash, clear a unnatural waterflow… simple step that show honor and respect.
Um, removing rocks, plants, or anything else from National Parks & Forest is illegal.
??
I’m sad folks don’t work harder at preserving our treasures.
It’s really unfortunate, and it’s called “plant poaching”. Not only do home gardeners snag a bit of plant, but there are commercial poachers that will remove hundreds of plants per semi-annual trip.
As a regular attendee of Burning Man, the principle of Leave No Trace is near and dear to my heart. One of the things I’ve concluded about that principle is that it is wholly incompatible with calling a place Home. Home is, by definition, the place where I Leave A Trace. Therefore, I make-right the impact that I leave by spending most of my outdoors time at home, where my impact is morally appropriate.
When I go away from home, the principle of LNT is foremost in my mind. Primarily, leaving no trace means not leaving trash or other Matter Out Of Place behind. Burners say, “if it hits the ground, it’s MOOP.” Don’t ever say, “Oh, I’ll pick that up later,” because in the outdoors, trash can be lost very quickly.
When I used to camp with the girl guides (scouts) we were always told “leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photographs”. I think it’s wonderful to appreciate nature, but it should also be respected, and respect means not taking the bits you like home with you, especially if they’re going to have a negative effect on the ecosystem.
We did a lot of camping when I was a child and my parents always taught us to show respect wherever we were. Mom used to say- “this is someone or something’s home- would you do that (drop trash on the ground or take something) at your friend’s house?” That lesson stuck with me and I have tried to instill it in my children as well.
Unfortunately, many, many others don’t see it that way. Too bad.
We religiously taught our children “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints” when we went hiking. One of my favorite memories from their childhood was hiking in the Kettle Moraine of Wisconsin. We had always told them that they should move very quietly in the woods, like the indigenous people that we had replaced. On this day, a very very noisy family moved through shouting and stomping– going off the trail, picking flowers, and just being generally obnoxious. After they had moved past, my 7-year-old daughter said, very quietly, “I guess they don’t know about the Indians.”