As the 27th Annual Isabella Lake Fishing Derby got underway on Saturday, local and national organizations were working to educate lake-goers on outdoor ethics.
The derby attracted over five thousand people to the lake on Saturday and will continue to bring anglers and their families to the area until the competition ends on Monday.
Because of the potential for high traffic, Gary Ananian reached out to Leave No Trace, an international organization focused on educating people about enjoying the outdoors responsibly.
Ananian, who founded the Kern River Conservancy and drives to the area from his home in Los Angeles, says that partnering with such a large organization is a big deal.
"Leave No Trace is a national organization," he said. "Their training curriculum can be found with federal agencies, state agencies."
Jenna Hanger and Sam Ovett are traveling trainers for Leave No Trace. They travel the western part of the United States educating schools, camps and tourists about the importance of cleaning up after yourself when enjoying the outdoors.
"Our mission is simply to teahch people how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly," Hanger said.
Thanks to Ananian, Kern River was chosen as part of LNT's "hot spot" program, which focuses on areas with high impact.
"It's areas that are, we call, being loved to death," Ovett said. "We have a lot of people coming to these areas, and with that, we tend to see impact."
Such is the case with Kern River and Isabella Lake, especially with the derby under way.
"We love the area," Ovett said. "It's a beautiful place and worth protecting."
You can learn more about Leave No Trace "hot spots" like Kern River here.
Or, you can more about Leave No Trace as an organization here
