Most Americans know some basic outdoor ethics rules—like not littering and staying on the trail. However, not everyone knows how to cross a stream responsibly, approach a horseback rider safely or how far away a tent should be from a river.
To help advance outdoor recreationists' knowledge of how to avoid environmental damage and conflicts with others, Tread Lightly! has released a newly updated series of "quick tips" for 18 forms of recreation. The tips are available to read online and can also be ordered in a brochure format.
New tips for UTV riding, shooting sports, and trail sharing have been created, and the classics have been updated and redesigned—such as ATV riding, camping, boating, geocaching and others. The printing of the new brochures was made possible by Foremost Insurance Group, which specializes in policies for off-road vehicles
The brochures are available to the public at no cost except shipping and handling. They can be read or ordered at www.treadlightly.org.
"Foremost recognizes that education is crucial to keeping the great outdoors healthy and open to the public," says Randy Slotten, Foremost's Director of Direct Marketing.
"The information in these brochures should be practiced by every single outdoor recreationist, and we are proud to partner with Tread Lightly! to help make that happen."
Some sample tips include:
- When camping, try to use existing campsites. Camp on durable surfaces and place tents on a non-vegetated area. Do not dig trenches around tents
- Camp at least 200 feet from water, trails, and other campsites.
- When approaching a horse while on an off-highway vehicle, immediately pull to the downhill side of the trail far enough for the horse to safely pass.
- Ask the rider for the best way to proceed without startling the animal.
- Cross streams only where the trail crosses the stream or at designated fording points.
The full series includes tips for responsible camping, fishing, off-highway motorcycling, mountain biking, geocaching, ATV riding, hunting, hunting with an ATV, four-wheeling, snowmobiling, personal watercraft use, horseback riding, snow sports, hiking, sand duning, boating, shooting sports, UTV riding and trail sharing.