Refuge Selected for Hot Spot Program

The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge) has been selected to participate in the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics – Hot Spot Program. The Hot Spot Program is in its 7th year of raising community awareness and bringing solutions and preventive measures to popular natural areas around the country facing the impacts associated with heavy recreational use.

The Refuge was selected from over 200 applicants to participate in the 2018 program due to increased trash on islands, damaged vegetation and trees, and increased dispersal of invasive species over recent years.

A team of Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers are partnering with the Refuge to host community events and educational activities in the Winona/Wabasha, MN and LaCrosse, WI areas between July 9 and July 16, 2018.

The week-long event will include training for open space, park, and recreational area managers and educators. Public events include an evening workshop in Winona on Friday, July 13, and a river cleanup on Upper Mississippi River Pool 4 (Wabasha area) on Sunday, July 15. The Traveling Trainers will also be available at the Youth Outdoor Fest held at the Veteran’s Freedom Park (West Copeland) in LaCrosse, WI on Saturday, July 14.

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics is a national nonprofit organization that protects the outdoors by teaching people how to enjoy it responsibly. Their Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers are mobile teams of educators that visit 48 states every year delivering Leave No Trace programs such as Hot Spots to over 15 million people. For more information, visit: www.LNT.org.

–FWS