It’s been one year to the day since San Juan County became the first county in the U.S. to voluntarily adopt the Leave No Trace Guiding Principles and Ethic to support stewardship on the San Juan Islands.

Since then, the organization has come up with seven guiding principles specifically meant for the San Juan Islands to assist visitors and locals with leaving as little impact as possible on the land. The group presented the seven principles to the county council in their Sept. 29 meeting for adoption.

The principles were first to prepare and plan to know the rules. Secondly, stick to the trails and camp overnight right to protect fragile habitat and minimize impact. The third was to properly dispose of trash and human or animal waste. Fourth, to ‘leave it as you find it,’ which focused on national and historic sites and not transporting plants or animals to the island which don’t belong. The fifth, especially important this summer, was to be careful with fire. The sixth principle was to keep wildlife wild by keeping control of pets and not feeding wildlife, as that can lead to habituation as well as disrupt wildlife feeding and hunting cycles. The final principle was to be considerate of other visitors to the island. The council asked the presenters how they planned to get the message out succinctly and efficiently. The team spoke of working with the Washington State ferries to introduce the principles, as well as brochures and using the Visitors Bureau as an online resource.