NOLS Soft Paths (NOLS Library)

Leave No Trace, minimum impact skills and ethics

New research and field experience prescribe better minimum-impact techniques for wilderness use

Expanded information on camping practices

How far you should camp from water, where to pitch your tent, how to build a fire or if you should build one in the first place

Respecting and caring for wildlands, doing your part to protect our limited resources and future recreation opportunities

Trampling, litter, waste disposal, fire use, wildlife health, and protecting cultural resources

David N. Cole is a research geographer with the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Montana. His research specialties include recreation ecology and leisure experiences in parks and wilderness. He is widely published on these topics and is the coauthor of Wildland Recreation: Ecology and Management (978-0-471-19461-3). Rich Brame has taught NOLS conservation practices in the wilderness on five continents. He also headed up NOLS' early Leave No Trace curriculum development, partnerships, and educational strategy. He lives in Lander, Wyoming, and works as NOLS' alumni relations director.