15 Years of Partnership

The Green River Preserve is a coed environmental education camp that has been connecting children to nature since 1988. The camp offers programs that nurture character development and foster skills such as perseverance, curiosity, communication, optimism, creativity and grit. They accomplish this through overnight summer camp programs, expedition style backpacking and kayaking courses in North Carolina and Colorado, and multi-day school programs and field trips to their teaching farm by local area schools.

Green River Preserve aims to inspire a generation of environmental stewards by instilling a joyful connection to nature. Much of this mission is accomplished through programming run at the camp, which is nestled in a valley surrounded by 3,400 acres of protected forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. Fifteen years ago, the camp joined Leave No Trace as a Community Partner to help show the neighboring communities that they take the responsibility of caring for the land very seriously, and to strengthen their commitment to shaping the next generation of environmental stewards.

Leave No Trace provides practical, measurable ways to help us preserve our greatest asset – the land which we occupy. Hayne Beattie-Gray, Green River Preserve

Today Leave No Trace is incorporated in how the Green River Preserve’s thousands of participants engage with the trails, forest and rivers at the camp and on the surrounding land. The summer camp staff all go through a Leave No Trace training and in turn, facilitate Leave No Trace lessons with campers in the backcountry. These lessons help teach the kids how to interact with the natural world both at camp and back in their home communities.

For over 15 years, the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics has partnered with small businesses and organizations like the Green River Preserve that share a passion and commitment to protecting our shared lands. These partners include a diverse range of organizations including youth programs, guides and outfitters, college and university outing groups, tourism organizations and public land managers. There are over 500 Community Partners, 95% of which are actively building Leave No Trace into their education and outreach efforts.

The Center’s partners are leaders in spreading Leave No Trace education, reaching hundreds of thousands of people each year in regions across the US and in countries around the world. The partners listed below are some of the Center’s longest-standing partners and have been supporting the mission for anywhere from five to fifteen years.

Thank you to these partners for your years of support of the Center’s mission and your commitment to promoting outdoor stewardship for everyone who enjoys spending time outside!