EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATIONS OF 2 LEAVE-NO-TRACE TECHNIQUES - REMOVING BOOTS AND USING GEOTEXTILE GROUNDCLOTHS (SCRIM)

One experiment was designed to compare vegetation impacts when hikers wear lug-soled boots and when they wear lightweight running shoes. A s econd experiment compared vegetation impacts following trampling with and without a geotextile groundcloth (scrim) in place. Vegetation impa cts were greater when hikers wore boots and when the groundcloth was n ot in place. Differences were small, however, and persisted for less t han a year.