COLORADO SPRINGS — As the weather warms up, more people are spending time on the trails in southern Colorado. This makes it important that we all become sustainable trail users.
The Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance (PPORA) is emphasizing the importance of being courteous of our environment and wildlife while out on the trail. They are a nonprofit that aims to take care of the outdoors.
PPORA said there are some important reminders they want to offer hikers to help them coexist with wildlife on the trails. The organization recommends packing enough water and food and giving wildlife their space. Be sure to take any trash when leaving the trail. That includes food potentially considered biodegradable.
“'Leave no trace' encompasses all of our traces. We want to make sure that we are not throwing out our orange peels or our banana peels apple cores or something like that. It takes years and years for these to decompose and if we think about it, if it’s waste for us, it’s waste for animals too. They don’t want our leftovers,” said McKenzie Carmack from PPORA.
Carmack's group also suggests remaining aware of surroundings and courteous of others. PPORA also suggests spreading out across the wide range of trails and open spaces in Colorado Springs and trying to visit less busy trails, if possible.
“Pick up your trash, pick up your dog poo if you have a pet out there with you. We love our friendly creatures, but we often don’t pick up after them and that’s a big challenge right now. So, just be considerate of others, pack it in, pack it out, and just [keep] no trace in mind," said Carmack.
There are apps like CoTrex and Alltrails that offer education about trails and how busy they may be.
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