Stewardship Education on the TRT: “Poo-tect Tahoe”

Support from the Truckee River Fund for the Stewardship Education on the Tahoe Rim Trail project would help purchase and promote PACT Kits and dog waste bags and dispensers as part of a stewardship education campaign to “Poo-tect Tahoe” by practicing Leave No Trace ethics. PACT Kits come with a trowel, dehydrated and compostable wipes, and small mycelial tablets that develop a fungal network within feces and the soil where it is buried. These tablets use non-invasive mycelium that grows natively across the U.S., kills bacteria within feces, and breaks down waste up to ten times faster than natural rates. The fungal root system never breaks the soil surface, poses no adverse environmental effects, and greatly minimizes human impacts on the watershed. The Tahoe Rim Trail Association has a small number of PACT Kits available for purchase but grant support from the Truckee River Fund would allow TRTA Volunteer Guides and Ambassadors to distribute kits at no cost for recreators who may have arrived unprepared to manage their waste on the trail. The promotion and distribution of PACT Kits will open the door for the Tahoe Rim Trail Association to foster impactful conversations about the relationship between the trail and the larger Lake Tahoe Basin Watershed. As illustrated in the attached map, the Tahoe Rim Trail naturally mirrors the outer boundary of the watershed due to its placement along ridgelines surrounding Lake Tahoe. According to Leave No Trace’s online literature, “over one hundred protozoans, bacteria, and viruses have been identified in human wastes, including Giardia lamblia, Cryptosporidium parvum, various coliform bacteria, and viruses such as Hepatitis A.” When recreators do not know to use the bathroom at least 200 feet from a water source, dig a cathole at least six inches deep, and pack out any sanitary products; their behavior can lead to a literal cascade of harmful effects as fecal bacteria and inorganic material like toilet paper make their way into the 63 streams and tributaries of the Lake Tahoe Watershed. TRTA Volunteers will combat this possibility  through stewardship education, and support from the Truckee River Fund would expand the existing Guide and Ambassador program to promote the campaign to “Poo-tect Tahoe” in 2025.

Through their 500 hours of volunteer service, TRTA Ambassadors and Guides will engage a cumulative 4,500 individuals with stewardship and environmental awareness education, with an emphasis on how to minimize human impacts on the environment when taking a “bio break,” as we often refer to using the bathroom out on the trail. This is a topic that many people can feel uncomfortable asking questions about. By initiating these occasionally awkward conversations with tact and training, TRTA Ambassadors and Guides will empower other individuals to share what they have learned about Leave No Trace basics. TRTA Ambassadors and Guides will accomplish these goals over the course of 50 Ambassador days, 20 public hikes, and 10 Trail Talks (which are held at local community spaces and include topics such as “How to Thru-hike the TRT”).

TMWA Benefit:

This project will advance the Truckee River Fund’s Priority VI: Stewardship and Environmental Awareness. This priority has become increasingly important to the Tahoe Rim Trail Association’s own operations after a boom in trail use following the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to increase each year. Specifically, TRTA Guides and Ambassadors will ensure that recreators know that bathroom breaks must be at least 200 ft from a water source and waste should be buried in a “cathole” 6-8 inches deep, with any inorganic material such as toilet paper packed out and properly disposed of elsewhere.

When a recreator steps onto the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT), they may not understand how intentionally their path was designed to mitigate erosion and preserve forest health and water quality in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Yet all of the organization’s trail building and maintenance efforts can quickly go to waste in the face of poor trail ethics. The need for stewardship education has been established in both the Tahoe Regional Trails Strategy and the Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan, which the TRTA is continuously involved in.