Kids need proper lessons when enjoying the outdoors

My father might have flinched at being called an environmentalist, although he would have been proud to be cited as a conscientious sportsman.

That’s funny, when you think about it, because there’s little difference between the two.

In the 40 years I hunted, fished, camped and even those years in which we rode snowmobiles and Honda Trail 90 motorcycles into the Central Montana mountains, I never saw my father waste game, violate land-use rules or blemish the land.

Parents and relatives can be the best teachers.

And they can be the worst.

Family outdoor trips lay the foundation for the respect with which the next generation will treat our forests, deserts, rivers, lakes and wildlife.

That gives us reason for hope, and despair.

I’ve lived a sheltered life in this regard. My family has high regard for natural resources, and so do my friends.

It seems so easy and logical to pack out what I pack in to a mountain lake. I can’t imagine why people would leave their trash.

It seems obvious that driving a four-wheeler off the road in to a wet meadow will leave unsightly ruts, damage forage that feeds elk and deer and leave openings for weeds to take hold.

But some people don’t see the forest for the “me’s.”

I met some rafters recently on the Salmon River who seemed to be missing educational opportunities in one of the world’s greatest natural classrooms – the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.

They had a flock of young kids, and everybody was having a ball running rapids, digging in the sand beaches and cooling down with river fights that rivaled the amount of water firefighters would douse on a blazing hotel.

They could have just as easily created a daily game of seeing which kid could collect the most micro-trash from the campsite before packing up each morning.

Kids tend to respond positively to shouldering responsibility in these settings.

If I learned one thing from all the outdoor trips I’ve enjoyed with my kids over the past 23 years, it was to value the time a family can have away from the distractions of phones, TVs, computers, jobs, schools and extra-curricular activities.

So I was sad to see some of the parents in this group miss the opportunity to teach respect for the wilderness that was delivering all this enjoyment.

One mom lathered her hair with shampoo and rinsed it off in a small clear stream as it flowed into the salmon just 100 feet from where one of the young boys was thrilled to catch a nice trout.

It would have been every bit as easy to get wet and then walk 100 feet from the stream with a pot full of water in order to lather up and rinse off in accordance with Forest Service rules.

River rangers give every rafting group a short presentation on taking care of the river before they are permitted to launch on the wilderness portion of the Salmon.

Having rules for tending campfires, washing and managing human waste is necessary in a narrow ribbon of paradise that’s heavily loved by 10,000 visitors a year.

Yet a couple of parents in the group talked about fudging on the rule to pack out ashes from their fire pan – a rule that helps keep those lovely sand beaches free of charred wood for the next campers coming downstream.

Watching independent rafting groups gives me an appreciation for good outfitters, who have a business incentive to follow the rules and keep the wilderness pristine.

They know it’s smart to provide hand-washing stations before meals and mandatory to pack out human waste and to strain dish water above the high water mark and pack out the compost.

Outfitters in most cases are the surrogate parents many outdoors lovers need to experience, along with their kids.