Bureau of Land Management Environmental Education Homepage Feature of the Month

Using a Living-History Campsite to Teach ALeave No Trace@ to Kids: the 1999 Burning Man Festival, Black Rock Desert, Nevada

The Burning Man Festival is a unique annual event held on America=s largest playa, the 400-square-mile Black Rock Desert, a former lake bed that today is by turns dusty and cracked, or, after a rain, a slick mud trap.  The Bureau of Land Management=s (BLM=s) Winnemucca Field Office handles the special recreation use permit for the event, which is symbolized by a large neon sculpture of a Aburning man.@  This year=s week-long festival of art, discovery, and spirituality was attended by nearly 25,000 people.  One of the stipulations of the BLM permit is the practice of ALeave No Trace@ (LNT) principles by all festival-goers.  However, the Burning Man organization has willingly embraced LNT principles on its own.  Though the festival=s large attendance effectively makes it the fourth-largest city in Nevada for its one-week duration, as people leave, the playa is completely cleaned, leaving no trace of the Acity@ that thrived there only a short time before. The Burning Man organization also includes LNT principles in its newsletter and on its website.

At Burning Man 1999, Mike Bilbo, the Winnemucca Field Office=s recreation planner and a Leave No Trace Master, presented LNT to a mixed group of children and adults.  For children in grades 2 through 5, Mike has found it to be effective to present Leave No Trace as living history: Mike becomes an 1800=s-era miner, and another player portrays a Leave No Trace-oriented, contemporary camper.

Mike sets up a miner=s camp consisting of a white canvas A-frame tent, with trash and old tools strewn around on the surrounding ground.  He wears a >49-er outfit, and eats stewed tomatoes from an authentically-labeled can. The other camp on display consists of a modern tent, a gas stove, and other modern conveniences. The contrast allows the group to compare the  two periods, and to discuss the outdoor ethics that have evolved over the years.  Mike teaches the kids where American camping started, how and why outdoor ethics have changed, and why we practice Leave No Trace.

Mike says it is easy to test the audience=s LNT knowledge level as the kids watch him sloppily eating his tomatoes with an original 3-tined fork.  He warms them up by explaining who he (his character) is, asking how they like his camp, and then, finished with the tomatoes, throwing the empty can on the ground.  If the kids have been previously LNT-educated C as was true at the Burning Man presentation C their questions come fast and furious: AWhy did you throw that can on the ground?@ and AHey mister, that=s trash, don=t you know you=re supposed to pack it out?@

If Mike=s little test reveals that the juvenile audience is not familiar with LNT, the modern-camper character might ask, ADo you think it=s all right for people to throw trash on the ground?@  Kids always respond with their opinions, and then the duo transitions into Acomparing and contrasting,@ which includes the evolution of outdoor clothing and equipment.  The young audience members at Burning Man, about 15 kids with their parents, were bright and inquisitive.

The LNT class usually lasts about 45 minutes to an hour, and includes a review of the how and the why of the transition from one time period to another.  If kids are older, the concept of historical resources and the necessity of leaving artifacts in place can also be taught.  Everything in the mock 19th-century camp looks new, not antique, because that=s how the components looked when the camp was modern.  But artifacts that have been purposely made to look old, such as the 1860=s tin tomato can, can be used to emphasize a Aleave what you find@ message.  Mike also uses the historic campsite to demonstrate how human behavior follows certain patterns, and talks about the things archaeologists hunt and investigate.

This page was created by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Environmental Education & Volunteers Group, 1849 C Street, Room 406-LS, Washington, DC 20240. Send comments or questions relating to accessibilty of documents to Kevin_Flynn@blm.gov Number of visitors since July 15, 2003:[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Kids' Privacy Statement

This is a U.S. Government Computer System. Before continuing, please read this disclaimer and privacy statement