I just read about the new permit pick up procedures for this year and while I saw last year's leave no trace failure first hand, I am not very confident that this year's results will be much different. My two trips last year included four first timers. They all commented on the trash and cut up live trees, they did not need to see a video to show them how to treat the wilderness. I hope that I am pleasantly surprised, but I fear a repeat of last year if we see the same number of camper's who fail to respect the wilderness.

You have no idea how much I hope that I am proven wrong.

I think there are only 2 ways to fix the issue:

Education

Enforcement

The least intrusive and least expensive is the education route. The internet based "certification" route places the responsibility on the permit holder to be the leader of the group and help reduce the unwanted behaviors.

The most intrusive and most expensive is the enforcement side of the equation. However, more "rangers" visiting more campsites can engender an adversarial environment. But the current lack of visible enforcement presence also leads to a "who is going to stop me" attitude.

Personally, I applaud their attempts to ensure that at least one person in the group is aware of the expectations/rules/LNT principles. It certainly cannot hurt when the little enforcement there is encounters a group that will be getting an enforcement consequence.

I would hope that the FS would take some of those added fee moneys and spend it on more enforcement presence. Just the possibility that a ranger is about can prevent many of the more egregious violations.