The Appalachian Trail is a hiking trail that extends more than 2180 miles from Georgia to Maine through 14 states along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains.  Over 2 million people use the trail each year, enjoying scenic vistas, water features, rock climbing, wildlife and plants of the forest, serenity and solitude, or time shared with family and friends.  The trail is cared for by the volunteer efforts of 31 trail maintaining clubs and countless individuals. 

The popular book, “A Walk In The Woods” by Bill Bryson, was published in 1998 and by 2000 the number of people attempting to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail increased by more than 50%.  (To thru-hike is to hike the entire A.T. within one year.)  In 2009 the National Geographic film “Appalachian Trail” was broadcast and from 2009 to 2011 the number of people attempting to thru-hike increased by 20%.  In 2011 this film was released on Netflix and in the years from 2011 to 2014 the number of thru-hike attempts increased an additional 45%.

It has been shown that as the Appalachian Trail receives more publicity, more people attempt to thru-hike.  Many are inexperienced backpackers who learn best practices while on the trail.  There are also impacts from the sheer number of hikers.  Certain parts of the trail, particularly in Georgia and Maine, are being greatly and negatively impacted by heavy use during relatively brief periods of time around the beginning and end of thru-hikes.    

Leave No Trace (LNT) is a set of seven principles designed to preserve our natural world.  In short, they are:

1.       Plan ahead and prepare.

2.       Travel and camp on durable surfaces.

3.       Dispose of waste properly.

4.       Leave what you find.

5.       Minimize campfire impacts.

6.       Respect wildlife.

7.       Be considerate of other visitors. 

A movie of “A Walk In The Woods”, produced by Robert Redford and Wildwood Enterprises, will be released in 2015.  While bringing increased awareness of and support to the Appalachian Trail, its release will certainly result in increased thru-hike attempts in the next few years, stressing the limits of the trail to withstand these hikers.  The purpose of this petition is to ask that brief film information on Leave No Trace principles be included with distribution of the movie to aid in educating the public.  Ideally, this film would be a brief statement by Mr. Redford calling for love and respect for the wilderness and listing the basic LNT tenets.

Please sign this petition asking Mr. Robert Redford and Wildwood Enterprises to increase awareness of Leave No Trace principles in conjunction with distribution of the movie “A Walk In The Woods.”