BSA Leave No Trace Level 1 Instructor Course
Theodore Naish Scout Reservation
Spring Course May 1-3, 2026
Fall Course October 23-25, 2026
Successful completion of the Leave No Trace Level 1 Instructor Course (D78) provides participants with certification in training skills for teaching the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace, low impact camping and recreation practices and the important part Leave No Trace plays in Scouting Outdoor Ethics. This course is recommended to all Scouters in Unit or District leadership, Outdoor Ethics Advisors and training staff for IOLS, Wood Badge, Baloo, NYLT or summer and day camp staff.
The Course will primarily be outside and participants will be in personal tents both nights. Each participant will do a 10-15 minute presentation to the group on a Leave No Trace Principle that will be assigned prior to the course.
Leave No Trace Skills (D84) Youth Participants ages 12–17 (and ages 18+ who opt for this course) will learn Leave No Trace skills, ethics, and what part the Leave No Trace Principles play in Scouting America Outdoor Ethics. Participants will be able to practice teaching these skills to others while also learning techniques for presenting the Leave No Trace principles in fun and engaging ways.
Leave No Trace 101 https://learn.lnt.org/courses/101 is a prerequisite, send certificate to jknoxgrubbs@gmail.com upon completion
Additional information, pack list and agenda will be sent prior to the course.
Questions or Concerns? Please contact our Course Director, Jenna Grubbs at jknoxgrubbs@gmail.com.
Register Spring Course Now Leave No Trace Flyer
Outdoor ethics is deeply ingrained in the BSA program. No place is this more important than in the outdoors. Scouting and Venturing have a long, proud tradition of conservation service to the nation. How do we preserve that tradition? By heeding the challenge in the Outdoor Code:
As an American, I will do my best to—
Be clean in my outdoor manners.
Be careful with fire.
Be considerate in the outdoors.
Be conservation-minded.
Building upon this foundation, the Cub Scout, Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Sea Scout programs all include outdoor stewardship, care for the environment, and Leave No Trace as part of their programs. At the Boy Scout and Varsity Scout levels, youth are encouraged to take leadership positions in encouraging proper outdoor ethics using the principles of Leave No Trace. Many Venturing crews have similarly adapted Leave No Trace principles to guide their outdoor recreation activities. Through the Outdoor Code and Leave No Trace, we can take responsibility for our own impacts. We can provide leadership to those around us to reduce their impacts by making good choices. Together, we can preserve and conserve our rich environmental heritage.
To learn more about the Principles of Leave No Trace, click here
To learn more about Tread Lightly, click here
Scouts and Venturers who embrace the Outdoor Code and principles of Leave No Trace often find that they wish to give back and help protect the environment that has given them so much. Some may find that they are "wild with love for the green outdoors - the trees, the tree-top singers, the wood-herbs, and the nightly things that left their tracks in the mud," in the words of Ernest Thompson Seton, the first Chief Scout. These Scouts of Venturers have begun to feel what Aldo Leopold called the "Land Ethic." The Land Ethic extends our concern beyond our fellow Scouts and Venturers, our families and friends, and even humanity itself to the entire environmental community of which we are a part - the deserts, forests, fish, wildlife, plants, rocks, oceans, and web of life encompassing them - what Leopold called "the Land."
To learn more about the Land Ethic, click here
Outdoor Ethics is not just for youth. Adult volunteers are encouraged to seek training in basic outdoor skills and even take specialized courses to learn Leave No Trace skills. Many councils have Outdoor Ethics advocates who provide leadership to their local units in learning and practicing good outdoor ethics.
To learn more about earning the Outdoor Ethics Awareness and Action award, click here or contact the Council Outdoor Ethics Chair, Jenna Grubbs.