Travel with Care is an initiative to promote responsible recreation in the outdoors with three pillars. To care for yourself, care for others, and to care for Idaho.
Volunteers with Visit Idaho put their initiative into action by helping out at Three Island Crossing State Park. The volunteers removed invasive weeds, cleaned up pine needles, and dug trenches to help 48 new trees grow.
"Most of the work that is done here is by seasonal staff and rangers," said park ranger John Redd. "It’s nice to have an organization come in, notice us, and give us some help with these projects."
As the tourism season ramps out Visit Idaho wants to spread their message urging people to care for the outdoors. They would like people to treat our public lands, parks, and amazing places like you would your own backyard.
"Leave no trace and pack it in pack it out, it’s that same mentality," said Jeremy Chase of Visit Idaho. "We want to encourage people to make sure they are doing those things because you have to keep those places beautiful and spectacular for others to visit, just as it is beautiful and spectacular for you."
The other two pillars include caring for yourself and others. Taking care of yourself means making smart decisions, being safe, and planning ahead. However, it's also important to be courteous to each other whether you are on the roads, the trails, or your final destination.
"Taking care of others is not only those in your travel party, but those you are encountering along the way," said Chase. "It also includes those in the tourism and hospitality recreation industry. If you are at the park, it’s being courteous to the staff that works here."
Three Island Crossing State Park brings the history of the Oregon Trail alive, but it also has a campground, a lot of green space for a picnic, and a disc golf course.
Last November the state park had to remove 48 trees that had disease or were dead so they planted 48 new ones. Ranger Redd told us the volunteer work will help them catch up and it's appreciated.
"We are honored because we don’t have a lot of volunteer participation," said Redd. "It is really great to have them here."
This is the third year of the Travel with Care initiative and the third time Visit Idaho has volunteered to help out, but the first time they've done so outside of the Treasure Valley. They plan to do more work in the future and will continue to spread this message.
