The Original "Leave No Trace" Scheme

Vic41 · Senior Member

The Original "Leave No Trace" Scheme

Rolly · Guru

Thanks Vic. smile

jandas fun · Guru

favorites folder slowly filling up. Thanks vic

Johnw

Basil Faulty · Guru

So before I can "leave no trace" I have to have a sticker??????? Does that mean that I can leave a mess if I don't have a sticker? confuse

suenami · Senior Member

I don't leave a trace anyway. But ayone is welcome to my sticker. Haven't put it up yet. Infact Can't find a good spot for my "grey nomads" sticker either. Have to scrap off some mud, I guess.
BTW Longreach is chockers with grey nomads mainly SA and Vic and the rest are school kids on hols. Winton tomorrow then off the beaten track for a while to chill out.... ashamed

cheers

Wombat 280 · Guru

Basil Faulty wrote:

So before I can "leave no trace" I have to have a sticker??????? Does that mean that I can leave a mess if I don't have a sticker?

You don't need a sticker to leave a mess just ask those who attended the adults soccer game at this park on Saturday . Bins less than 20 feet away

On the way from WA last year pull into a couple of these free sites for a lunch time cuppa and was amazed at the rubbish left behind including those bloody disposable nappies it a couple the smell of urine and feaces was overpowering . I suppose those travellers hadn't heard of LNT. They left that much of a trace a blind man without his dog could follow

-- Edited by Wombat 280 on Sunday 28th of June 2009 10:16:12 PM

Vic41 · Senior Member

Sticker.......let me put it this way. At the moment, those who are not in a club or do not want to join one cannot apply to be members of the CMCA LNT scheme to the best of my knowledge, at least that is the case at present.

If non club members apply for the LNT sticker on the link I provided and read the obligations that go with it, then at least they can display that to show they support Leave No Trace. The advantages of doing that is that if they have to park in areas that are closed to non Leave No Trace RV's the rangers etc who see their defacto sticker, just MIGHT allow them to stay if they can show they can meet the requirements of the club LNT scheme.

Just a thought for consideration, I think that as time goes by there will be a lot more overnight stops that will require membership of the CMCA LNT scheme, so if RV's owners are not prepared to join a club and join it then they may find their overnight stop choices very limited.

Vic

-- Edited by Vic41 on Monday 29th of June 2009 10:37:42 AM

Cruising Granny · Guru

You mean overnight parkers have to be a member of CMCA LNT to do so?
Not that's black mail to get members!
Who's going to POLICE that?
CMCA doesn't have LNT exclusivity. It's a national government body initiative supported and/or sponsored by various organisations and private companies around Oz.
If free camping overnight is conditional on joining a club many people will choose to stay home or be forced to use caravan parks.
Doesn't sound very democratic to me.
My experience shows messy campers are the minority. The mess is usually left by townies having a party on the site and leaving their mess behind.
Chris

dave06 · Guru

well I dont know where or when the leave no trace come about but I only heard of it when I became a member of the cmca, I thought it was an initiative of that club only

the greatest mess we have come across was after an easter break over at Morgan on the murray, a great little free camp just over the other side, the ungodly stinking putrid mess that was left there was certainly not the locals, they were from adelaide

pooped everywhere and didnt bury it then left the toilet paper to just blow around, nappys everywhere and cans and bottles for miles, it took the council two days to clean it up, three truckloads of rubbish

I'm surprised they didnt close it down

this seems to be the case where idiots from the city come out and just go beserk, they dont care for anything or anyone just get on the grog and ride motorbikes and watercraft

Wombat 280 · Guru

It's like it everywhere Dave, the wife and I can normally fill two black gar bags with the rubbish left by others at any site we stop at. So much for the last 30 years of teaching in schools of the motto Keep Australia Beautiful . Most adults and their kids feel if they go out on that one day of the year and fill a bag or two then that's all the input that's needed to save Australia

suenami · Senior Member

I suspect you may be right Vic. Even though I'm a member, it gives me the horrors....

Vic41 · Senior Member

Well I've decided to join it as well Sue, doing the big one next year and don't want to have to spend all day looking for alternatives. Application goes in the post tonight.

Vic

mike and Judy · Guru

Interesting comment about the ranger checking for the label, Vic does this mean that the CMCA has a relationship with the rangers, is there a thing tween them, and if so how far does it go,

Vic41 · Senior Member

Mike,

This info from the CMCA Application Form;

"Please note: You must be able to verify the information you have supplied on this Application Form at any time at the request of any controlling authority (eg. Council Ranger), or by a representative of the Regulating Authority of this Scheme."

To view the full details of the Code of Conduct, Application form and Letter to other clubs, see the ATCM&CC link below, on the page click on the blue highlighted titles (3 of them), this is a public viewable page;

http://www.atcmcc.org.au/clubnews.php?newsid=LNT

The Code of Conduct lists what is required by anyone joining the scheme, as does the application form. Please note at the moment you can only join the CMCA LNT scheme if you are a member of CMCA or via the Secretary of a Caravan/RV club who verify your application and onforward it to the CMCA. I wouldn't be surprised if CMCA appoint other agencies in the future for non club RV's to join the scheme, but that is a matter for the CMCA.

Vic

-- Edited by Vic41 on Tuesday 30th of June 2009 10:15:53 AM

Cruising Granny · Guru

Have a look at the Leave No Trace websites and get the real picture.
You don't have to be a member of any caravaners' club to Leave No Trace.
What happened to "Take only pictures. Leave nothing but footprints"?
I don't have to be in a little box to do my thing, while respecting the country I'm in. Cheers Chris

Mary · Senior Member

G'day all,
I agree withChris,
Why do we have to be on someone's database via a sticker application just to go about our business as Australians-Travel this country,enjoy and care for it.Why not make provisions for whopping fines for littering .Cripes our freedoms are being chipped away every day without running en masse to surrender our individual details to every cause available.Who controls all of this info?,
Cheers,
Mary

mike and Judy · Guru

That is absolutly spot on Mary, why is it necessary for all that guff just to do what we have always done, now you need a licence to anything, even using a bloody chainsaw, and I was using them when they were fisrt here in the early 60s

Vic41 · Senior Member

I agee with you, however things do change, and I think you will find that you will be denied access or moved on by local Rangers etc under some Council regulations in some overnight parking areas if they take this up and enforce it.

I sounds like "Big Brother", but I think the slobs who don't give a stuff about anyone else and trash free parking area's have jeopardized the enjoyment and access of responsible campers like ourselves and this is one method council's may employ to keep these places open, otherwise they would have to shut them down.

While I don't like it, I can see why they need to do it, and it seems as more slobs hit the road they are spoiling it for everyone else. I am joining the scheme simply because we are doing the big lap soon and I don't want to be denied access to any overnight areas and have to drive around all over the place trying to find an overnight stop after a hard days driving.

It is a matter of choice, for my circumstances I feel it is something I need to do to make our travels as stress free as possible. I respect others choices too (and agree with your principles) but you may need to accept the possible consequences at some free parking areas in the future if these things come about.

Vic

-- Edited by Vic41 on Wednesday 1st of July 2009 11:13:57 AM

Rolly · Guru

A significant reduction in the population would probably help significantly.

Not that I'm volunteering just yet.

A license to breed might also be a reasonable proposition too; possibly requiring some form of formal education and certification.

Cruising Granny · Guru

What about when you choose to park up in a region not covered by local government or resident rangers?
It looks like an organisation is putting its hand in the travellers' pockets to control something they have no control over.
Do you really believe someone will actually move you out of a free camp IF you don't display the CMCA and/or LNT bumper sticker?
A sticker can be easily removed.
Watch your pockets folks! Big brother isn't watching but he's holding his hand out anyway.
I don't buy it.
A minimal camping fee or an "honesty box" would be more credible, and most don't even have that. Cheers Chris

Vic41 · Senior Member

A one off fee of $5 to register and get a sticker. Anyone that has ever had stickers made knows they are not cheap items, so I can hardly see where they would be making a profit.
We'll just have to wait and see what actually does happen in any areas restricted to LNT members. As I said previously, no good bitching then if you are excluded from camping there.

Vic

Cruising Granny · Guru

The Leave No Trace scheme is a separate organisation from the Caravan and Motorhome Campers Association. As far as I can determine the CMCA is only endorsing the the LNT organisation's concept.
Leave No Trace holds its members to a very stringent, unrealistic idealism which in reality is almost unachievable. Good luck with that.
Cheers Chris