Enjoy the Outdoors
There are many exciting adventures awaiting your visit to the Klamath National Forest and, each year, more and more Americans load up their gear and head outdoors to experience the various seasons we have. Safety of visitors is the number one concern of the Forest Service!
The number two concern is that the many diverse people who recreate on national forest lands now do so in a responsible and ethical way. This way the following generations of recreation users will be able to enjoy National Forest System lands in the same or better condition than they exist now.
Responsibility in the Woods
Outdoor ethics is based on the idea that we are all stewards of the environment and should provide careful and responsible management of our great outdoors so that this generation and those to come can enjoy it.
Buy it where you burn it
Moving firewood can spread invasive species. Keeping firewood local keeps the pests and diseases in the wood local, rather than spreading them to locations.
Cultural Resources are protected by Federal Law
It is illegal to excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise deface any archaeological resource located on public lands.
Please Dispose of Human Waste Properly
Please help protect health and safety by properly disposing of human waste.
Leave No Trace (LNT)
Leave No Trace is both a set of principles, and an organization that promotes those principles. The principles are designed to assist outdoor enthusiasts with their decisions about how to reduce their impacts when they are in the outdoors. The organization strives to educate all those who enjoy the outdoors about the nature of their recreational impacts as well as techniques to prevent and minimize such impacts.
By promoting and following the Seven Principles of Leave No Trace, you blend your visit with the natural environment and serve as a steward of our public lands.
- Plan Ahead and Prepare
- Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
- Dispose of Waste Properly
- Leave What You Find
- Minimize Campfire Impacts
- Respect Wildlife
- Be Considerate of Other Visitors
Whether you are going on a short walk from town or on a long expedition into the backcountry, we ask that you embrace Leave No Trace and that you encourage others to do the same.
Learn more from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics
Tread Lightly!
Tread Lightly!® is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to promote responsible outdoor recreation through ethics education and stewardship. Tread Lightly!®’s educational message, along with its training and restoration initiatives, are strategically designed to instill an ethic of responsibility in a wide variety of outdoor enthusiasts and the industries that serve them.
Along with the Seven principles of Leave No Trace, Tread Lightly! Principles will make you a well-rounded responsible visitor to the great outdoors:
- Travel Responsibly on land by staying on designated roads, trails and areas. Go over, not around, obstacles to avoid widening the trails. Cross streams only at designated fords. When possible, avoid wet, muddy trails. On water, stay on designated waterways and launch your watercraft in designated areas.
- Respect the Rights of Others including private property owners, all recreational trail users, campers and others so they can enjoy their recreational activities undisturbed. Leave gates as you found them. Yield right of way to those passing you or going uphill. On water, respect anglers, swimmers, skiers, boaters, divers and those on or near shore.
- Educate Yourself prior to your trip by obtaining travel maps and regulations from public agencies. Plan for your trip, take recreation skills classes and know how to operate your equipment safely.
- Avoid Sensitive Areas on land such as meadows, lakeshores, wetlands and streams. Stay on designated routes. This protects wildlife habitats and sensitive soils from damage. Don't disturb historical, archeological or paleontological sites. On water, avoid operating your watercraft in shallow waters or near shorelines at high speeds.
- Do Your Part by modeling appropriate behavior, leaving the area better than you found it, properly disposing of waste, minimizing the use of fire, avoiding the spread of invasive species and repairing degraded areas.