Debbie Johnson, director of the Arizona Office of Tourism, oversees the marketing for the state of Arizona – bringing in visitors to boost the local economy and ensuring that everyone gets the most out of everything Arizona has to offer.
Her job looks a little different nowadays. Residents and tourists are spending a lot more time outside, which is why the office of tourism partnered with Colorado-based company Leave No Trace to develop a campaign to promote the preservation of the 48th state.
“We had planned to do this in 2021, but when the pandemic hit, we saw so many people outside and we started to see some of the negative media about people not taking care of our amazing outdoor areas,” Johnson explains. “We moved very quickly to bump up the campaign. We’ve been working on it since early April to talk about the importance of taking care of this beautiful state that we get to live in and enjoy.”
Leave No Trace advocates for the safe and sustainable protection and enjoyment of the great outdoors. The organization developed a framework of minimum-impact practices for anyone exploring outside, which includes seven principles that can be applied anywhere, from backcountry settings to your own backyard. These principles are backed up by biologists, land managers and other leaders in outdoor education and range from respecting wildlife to staying on designated trails.
The initiative, Appreciate AZ, features artwork for each of the seven principles. Each design showcases a different design – from saguaros to the Grand Canyon – that represent Arizona and its natural wonders. The Arizona Office of Tourism is working with four other state agencies that are also focused on preserving and protecting the outdoors – Arizona State Parks, Arizona State Lands, Arizona Game and Fish and the Arizona Department of Transportation. The Appreciate AZ images will be distributed throughout the state as posters, brochures and visitor’s guides.
“We all need to take care of Arizona and really appreciate what we have,” Johnson says. These efforts and practices are for both residents and visitors when camping, hiking or otherwise enjoying outdoor areas. They can help prevent wildfires, waste and injuries and help preserve public lands for generations to come.
“When we see these pictures and hear the news stories, we think people are being intentionally disrespectful, but what I’ve come to learn is people just genuinely don’t know necessarily how to take care of the outdoors,” Johnson says. “We all need those simple reminders. My favorite one is Plan Ahead and Prepare. That can be as simple as take water, wear the right footwear, make sure you’re cleaning up after your pet and you have the supplies to do that.”
Another important Leave No Trace principle is Leave What You Find – don’t do things that leave the environment in a different state than you discovered it. “We want it to be here next year and 10 years from now and 100 years from now for people to enjoy the same way we got to,” Johnson says.
The artwork is aimed to educate and inspire, while depicting iconic images that people can instantly relate to. The Stick to Trails principle is paired with an image of the Sedona red rocks and Trash Your Trash is featured with Fossil Creek. “People will recognize the beauty and picture themselves there,” Johnson says. “Some of those things that people can look at and think they’ve done it or they want to do it, and it’s just that reminder to take care of it.”
