News & Updates

Martin Park Nature Center Hot Spot

Guest - March 22, 2017
main20trail20map-nIuG14.jpg

Oklahoma City, OK: Have you ever been to Oklahoma City? Oklahoma City is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Paseo Art District, grain silos repurposed into climbing gyms, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum and the Martin Park Nature Center.

main trail map.JPG

According to their website the "Martin Park Nature Center is a hub for nature exploration and education for visitors of all ages.  Guided hikes, education programs and an interactive learning center provide visitors a place to learn about nature and wildlife in a serene, suburban environment.” 

Leave No Trace has been in Oklahoma City for the past week conducting a Hot Spot at the Martin Park Nature Center. What is a Leave No Trace Hot Spot?  Many outdoor areas across our nation are negatively impacted by recreational use – we’re literally loving the land to death. The reason is usually not malicious intent to harm; rather it’s simply a lack of knowledge or skills. The end result, however, is usually the same: Litter, invasive species, habituated wildlife, dog waste, trail and campsite erosion, water sources polluted with human waste, names carved in trees, campfire ring proliferation, cigarette butts along a trail, damaged cultural and historic sites, pets chasing wildlife – the list goes on and on. We call these areas Hot Spots – sites that are damaged but that can recover and become healthy again after specific Leave No Trace applications. By identifying and working with Hot Spots across the nation, we rapidly move toward recovering and protecting the places we cherish for future generations. Learn more about our Hot Spot program HERE.

boy scout bino.JPG

Leave No Trace is helping the Martin Park Nature Center continue their efforts to minimize user impacts and educate the public about how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly. Martin Park has minimum-impact curriculum throughout the park.  Martin Park is a great example of Leave No Trace in Every Park because visitors to Martin Park are not only introduced to Leave No Trace by park staff, with the map of the park, with signs throughout the park and the park website when visiting but they also have the opportunity to use Leave No Trace on trails, on the playground, at the wildlife viewing station, by recycling, and using provided facilities while enjoying the park.

wildlife viewing.JPG

Over the past week the Hot Spot included a combined 500 volunteer man-hours by local Oklahoma Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.  There was a cleanup at Lake Hefner held on kayaks that took over 60 pounds of trash out of the lake.  The Hot Spot week had 20 individual invents in 7 days including a Leave No Trace themed Scavenger Hunt for St. Patrick's Day.  This Scavenger hunt introduced over 300 park visitors to Leave No Trace games and practices in just 3 hours!

kayak cleanup.JPG

Travel Well,

Amanda and Greg – Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Team East Central

Leave No Trace’s Amanda Neiman and Greg Smith are part of the 2017 Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Program that provides free, mobile education to communities across the country. Proud partners of this program include Subaru of America, REI, Fjall Raven, ENO, Deuter, Thule, Taxa Outdoors and SmartWool.

Let’s protect and enjoy our natural world together

Get the latest in Leave No Trace eNews in your inbox so you can stay informed and involved.