Teaching Resources

Features & Benefits

“Most importantly, the Leave No Trace Youth Program Accreditation process has allowed our program and field team to bring the organization together through the process of identifying how we currently teach Leave No Trace in the field and how we can improve. This has been a valuable way to strategize with our development and marketing team, as well as directors, about the value of the accreditation process and deepening and enhancing our relationship with the Center to not only contribute to the quality of environmental ethics education our participants receive in the field, but to expand and deepen our presence in the outdoor community as a whole.” 

Andy Paul, Outdoor Outreach

Youth Engagement

Evaluating the effectiveness of a program’s education initiatives requires the voice and perspectives of the youth participants. A program’s youth participants are a vital part of the Leave No Trace Youth Program Accreditation process.

Program Evaluation

Evaluation rubric tools allow program leaders to understand the strengths and opportunities for improvement to further enhance Leave No Trace programming and educational effectiveness.

Compliance Options

Every program is unique. Compliance options give programs a choice when demonstrating standards requirements. Compliance options are equally weighted to keep the level of reporting requirement consistent.

Benefits

The nature of an accreditation process allows your program to begin seeing benefits and improvements right away. These benefits include:

  • Evaluating the effectiveness of Leave No Trace programming and educational initiatives through the lens of Positive Youth Development
  • Receiving direct feedback about the effectiveness of a program’s staff training and development
  • Demonstrating Leave No Trace best practices through the lens of your unique program
  • Identifying tangible actions to enhance a program’s effectiveness over the next one to five years
  • Enhancing commercial authorization or special us permit applications through federal and state land management agencies
  • Fulfilling the environmental activities and outdoor ethics requirements of the American Camp Association and the Boy Scouts of America camp accreditation programs

Other benefits include:

  • A dedicated team of Leave No Trace professional staff to provide support throughout the entire accreditation process
  • A suite of digital accreditation logos to proudly display to community members
  • Discounts on Leave No Trace education materials and other resources