Post History
According to the Centre for Outdoor Ethics: "The use of campfires, once a necessity for cooking and warmth, is steeped in history and tradition [...] the natural appearance of many areas has ...
#2: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2020-04-17T20:08:35Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/8019 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#1: Initial revision
by
ShemSeger
·
2020-04-17T20:08:34Z (over 4 years ago)
<p>According to the <a href="https://lnt.org/">Centre for Outdoor Ethics</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>"The use of campfires, once a necessity for cooking and warmth, is steeped in history and tradition [...] the natural appearance of many areas has been degraded by the overuse of fires and an increasing demand for firewood." <sup><a href="https://lnt.org/learn/principle-5">1</a></sup></p> </blockquote> <p>Even in my lifetime, I've seen the rapid increase of traffic into the backcountry, and I've seen many favourite camp areas devastated because of trees being cut for firewood.</p> <p>With modern technology and the availability of very lightweight and economical camp stoves, campfires really aren't necessary anymore. There's a certain romance and nostalgia attached to campfires, and they can still save a life an emergency. But for the most part they result in trampled terrain, delimbed trees, blackened stones, unneccesary trails that weave through the woods but go nowhere, and hatchet/ax scars in trees from 'hanging up' your campfire tools.</p> <p>In todays backcountry, <strong>according to <em>Leave No Trace</em> ethics</strong>, when is it unethical to have a campfire?</p> <p><hr></p> <p><sup>1 <a href="https://lnt.org/learn/principle-5">Principle 5: Minimize Campfire Impacts</a></sup></p>