JACKSON HOLE, WYO – Officials in Grand Teton National Park are concerned about what they fear may becoming a new Pinterest-type trend. Too often this summer and early fall, rangers and other park employees have found painted rocks stashed in various places as some tourists have embraced a reverse-souvenir practice: they leave something behind as a memento of their visit.
“While it might seem like a cute and crafty idea, we ask that you do not leave in our National Parks,” park reps said in a statement over the weekend. :Many people come to our National Parks, like Grand Teton National Park, to find areas that have been undisturbed by humans. These painted rocks distract from that experience.”
Leave No Trace policies insist that rocks, plants and other natural objects are left just as they were encountered. The same concept applies to placing painted rocks, carving a name into rocks and trees, or any other practice of leaving behind a trace of human presence.
Nature is pretty beautiful the way it is. Let others experience it the way it was meant to be. Please, leave only footprints.
