Leave No Chance: How Visitor Education Preempts Problems and Turns First-Time Users Into Long-Time S

Leave No Chance: How Visitor Education Preempts Problems and Turns First-Time Users Into Long-Time Stewards

Time: Wednesday, 8:00 am - 9:00 am

Location: Regency A/B (2nd Floor)

Session Sponsored by Eastern National

Presented by:

Zachary Bolick, Sr. Director of Operations, Student Conservation Association


Like many public lands, Superior National Forest experienced unprecedented visitation rates during the summer of 2020 as people sought to escape the COVID-19 pandemic. The sharpest increase came from first-time visitors and, regrettably, many inexperienced users left beer cans in Boundary Waters, littered campsites, harmed social trails, and more.

In response, Superior National Forest partnered with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) to educate visitors on responsible recreation and the results were remarkable – increasing outreach, advancing broad respect for nature, and tapping supplemental funding to achieve its stewardship objectives.