Leaving firewood at camp

[Aslowhand]

I always cook on fire on my trips (unless there is a fire ban).

I was taught that on wilderness canoe trips you leave some firewood for the next group. When I leave camp, there is at least enough firewood left at the fire pit for a small cooking fire. I realize this is not a rule or a law, it's 'bush etiquette' and I don't mind arriving at a camp without firewood.

One thing I noticed while canoeing in Quetico this year is that some camps had leftover firewood thrown into the bushes away from the fire pit. I left firewood at one camp, and on a second visit about three weeks later, some of the leftover wood was burned and the rest scattered.

I can't think of an explanation for this. Did I miss something? What is the reason for such a practice?

 

[Alan Gage]

I don't know what "leave no trace" has to say about firewood but maybe some people consider leaving firewood breaks the leave no trace ethic.

I certainly don't think it does but that's the most plausible reason that first comes to mind.

Alan

 

[Allegheny Tom]

I always cook on fire on my trips (unless there is a fire ban).

I was taught that on wilderness canoe trips you leave some firewood for the next group. When I leave camp, there is at least enough firewood left at the fire pit for a small cooking fire. I realize this is not a rule or a law, it's 'bush etiquette' and I don't mind arriving at a camp without firewood.

One thing I noticed while canoeing in Quetico this year is that some camps had leftover firewood thrown into the bushes away from the fire pit. I left firewood at one camp, and on a second visit about three weeks later, some of the leftover wood was burned and the rest scattered.

I can't think of an explanation for this. Did I miss something? What is the reason for such a practice?

View attachment 143556

I think it's the no trace crowd that is against leaving firewood.
But the very fact that it's a designated campsite, by definition, means there IS a trace (many traces) that are left by the dozens of people that have stayed there.
I personally don't understand the distain for leaving a small pile of wood beside an established fire ring with a grate. Such sites also usually have an established privy too. No trace? I think not.
Now, I CAN understand actually leaving no trace in areas of dispersed camping.

 

[Jim Dodd]

In the BWCA, we always leave some fire wood, at the fire grate, as your pic shows.
It's a courtesy thing.

I believe the no trace applies to non designated campsites.

There are plenty of slouches out there, and that is too bad !

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

I believe they are typically larger chunks that were doused at the end of the night or when camp was broken and were cluttering the fire ring and thus discarded to make room for a fire with dry wood.

 

[Boatman53]

I have always left firewood, I was taught that by my mentor as a courtesy for the next people at the site. Who knows they may be in distress and need to build a fire quickly.
As for tossing processed wood into the brush I have no guesses.
Jim

 

[scoutergriz]

sounds like some very misguided people, using already disturbed and collected firewood is far more friendly than tossing it and disturbing more of the area collecting more.
Like boatman says, I always try to leave enough wood and kindling for one fire- more than once I've arrived at a site cold, wet, and
exhausted, and found a nice little pile ready to light. I've also arrived at sites with nothing, requiring me to either give up and crawl into my bag under a poorly rigged tarp rather than setting up camp, or to spend another hour or two collecting wood for a fire- often pushing me to paddle to other locations in the dark because there's nothing to burn nearby.
At that point it's about safety, not courtesy...

 

[ppine]

Old ways are the best ways, to a point. Leaving wood for a fire at a campsite or especially in a cabin, is not only good etiquette, it could save someone's life. A warming fire can be important.

Modern campers and canoeists, especially urban ones are brainwashed about fire danger and "leaving the environment alone." Many seem to think a stove has less impact on the land. For a stove, we have mine metals, and make plastic from oil. Then we transport the materials, and harvest fossil fuels. Then we have to dispose of containers. A fire is carbon neutral. A fire cleans up dead material lying around in a forest.

Wild and Scenic Rivers require sanitation and the use of a fire pan. Some people are trained to remove all evidence of fires, which includes scattering firewood. Ashes end up in the river.

I enjoyed the BWCA because fires were still a part of the culture years ago. We still drank out of the lakes back in the 1980s.

The one thing I don't care for are the enormous piles of rocks around fire pits. The first thing I do is remove the rocks on one side so I can feel the heat and access the fire for cooking.

 

[Blukanu]

I can’t see a legit reason for scattering firewood out in the bushes.

Only reason I can see is hoping to deny the next camper the use of your unused firewood you gathered. Kind of a jerk move, like “No freebies, gather up your own dang wood”.

I don’t go out of my way to make wood for the next camper but If I have excess I’ll be sure to leave it neatly stacked by the firepit.

 

[lowangle al]

The one thing I don't care for are the enormous piles of rocks around fire pits. The first thing I do is remove the rocks on one side so I can feel the heat and access the fire for cooking.

That's a pet peeve of mine too. It seems rocks are added over the years for some reason (probably to block wind) and you end up building your fire in a hole. It doesn't get good air flow and retains heat that would otherwise warm you. It also makes it hard to feed the fire if you are using a grill.

I usually leave wood behind and it's nice to have some waiting for you when you arrive. On the little used Kenai Canoe Trails in Ak. I have returned to campsites and found the wood that I left there years before.

 

[Gamma1214]

No idea why anyone would scatter it at an established campsite but I've got to believe it's someone who is unfamiliar with living outdoors.

I've always enjoyed seeing the size of the pieces previous campers have left... are they the huge pieces and "all-nighters" of a backwoods bonfire or the small, quickly burned & easily doused fire of someone who wants to get supper & turn in?

 

[Odyssey]

No idea why anyone would scatter cut wood like that. Was it too green? Too wet? Too big? It can still be stacked for future use.
I generally don't leave wood by the firepit only because it's usually exposed there to the elements. Instead I pile it towards the campsite clearing edge, often next to a tree and under a low growing branch, for some rain protection.
This past summer I came across some burnt and charred chunky wood in a firepit. It had rained the night before so it was wet. I laid it out in the sun to dry before splitting and drying it further. We were staying put so it supplied us with the 2nd nights fire. I left behind a small clean (uncharred) stack under a balsam when we departed.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I actually don't recall ever arriving at a campsite that had a stack of firewood, but I don't recall a lot of things.

If there were such a stack and I used some for a fire, I would feel obligated to replace the stack for the next camper. However, if I don't want to gather or cut wood to make a fire for myself, and don't, I certainly don't feel an obligation to gather or cut wood for some later one else, and don't.

If there is no firewood when I arrive, and I gather/cut some to make a fire, I of course will leave any unused wood for the next camper.

None of this answers Aslowhand's primary question, however. I really have no idea why anyone would scatter or toss usable firewood they gathered themselves or which someone else before them gathered and stacked. Maybe to prevent rodents and bugs from infesting the woodpile and campsite. Maybe LNT virtue signalling. Maybe kids. Maybe booze. Maybe those unknown things that go bump in the night.

 

[Tryin']

I have seen an increase in online postings about not leaving firewood, with various explanations. I blame facebook and reddit.

The most common (for me) is that the wood pile harbors pests and insects. Ok, but who cares? They are there already. You think relocating 20 feet to a better "house" is going to cause a species imbalance?

The second is LNT. This one actually irks me more than a little. LNT is little more than precept-turned-dogma these days, but that's an discussion best had elsewhere. In this instance, a pile of firewood is a heluva lot less intrusive than a vault toilet, steel grill, and 1,000 square feet of exposed roots.

 

[Gamma1214]

In this instance, a pile of firewood is a heluva lot less intrusive than a vault toilet, steel grill, and 1,000 square feet of exposed roots.

And, of course, the firepit.

 

[Tumpline]

Tradition. Old school was tent poles leaning against a tree and an enough firewood to make a fire. A bunch of birch bark stuffed in the bundle. I’ve welcomed the wood after a long hard day. Especially in rough weather.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Tradition. Old school was tent poles leaning against a tree and an enough firewood to make a fire. A bunch of birch bark stuffed in the bundle.

Maybe this was a tradition on some well-traveled trade routes. Maybe not. I don't know.

Picturing this idealized traditional campsite, I'm now strangely leaning toward LNT-ness, which is contrary to my anti-political-correctness nature. When I'm out it the wilderness, I want it to look like wilderness, darn it—devoid of homo sapiens—not like some lumbersexual campfire store in San Francisco neatly organized by Miss Manners.

I think I'll go outside and throw some sticks into the woods.

 

[recped]

Tradition. Old school was tent poles leaning against a tree and an enough firewood to make a fire. A bunch of birch bark stuffed in the bundle. I’ve welcomed the wood after a long hard day. Especially in rough weather.

I have seen this a few times and usually in places where the birch bark was carried a long way given there were no birch trees of a size big enough within 100 miles or more.

 

[Aslowhand]

Thank you for your answers!

I am glad that many of you confirm the practice of leaving firewood.

After reading through the various posts, I searched the internet for LNT principles and found the following:
https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/minimize-campfire-impacts/. If you scroll down the page and click on “FIREWOOD AND CLEANUP” you will see:

• Firewood should be purchased from a local source or gathered responsibly where allowed.
• Standing trees, dead or alive, are home to birds and insects, so leave them intact. Fallen trees also provide bird and animal shelter, increase the soil’s water-holding capacity, and recycle nutrients back into the environment through decomposition.
• Stripping branches from standing or fallen trees detracts from an area’s natural appearance.
• Avoid cutting or breaking branches from standing or downed trees. Dead and down wood burns quickly, is easy to collect, and leaves less impact.
• Use small pieces of wood, no larger than the diameter of an adult wrist that can be broken with your hands.
• Gather wood over a wide area away from camp. Use dry driftwood on rivers and seashores.
• Burn all wood to white ash and thoroughly soak it with water to extinguish the fire. The ashes should be cool to the touch.
• In backcountry areas, scatter the remains over a large area away from camp. Ashes may have to be packed out in river corridors.
• Replace soil where you found it when cleaning up a mound or pan fire.
• Scatter unused wood to keep the area as natural looking as possible.
• Pack out any litter. Plastic items and foil-lined wrappers should never be burned on a campfire.

As some of you said, it seems like people were following LNT's recommendations. My reasoning now is that Quetico is closer to the urban centers than the areas I usually travel in. Quetico attracts a lot more visitors than Wabakimi, for example. More people means more different approaches to how to travel in the wilderness.

The one thing I don't care for are the enormous piles of rocks around fire pits. The first thing I do is remove the rocks on one side so I can feel the heat and access the fire for cooking.

That's a pet peeve of mine too. It seems rocks are added over the years for some reason (probably to block wind) and you end up building your fire in a hole. It doesn't get good air flow and retains heat that would otherwise warm you. It also makes it hard to feed the fire if you are using a grill.

Well...don't get me started on this! I could talk for hours about optimal fire pits. I often have to rearrange the rocks before I light a fire.

Only reason I can see is hoping to deny the next camper the use of your unused firewood you gathered. Kind of a jerk move, like “No freebies, gather up your own dang wood”.

Picturing this idealized traditional campsite, I'm now strangely leaning toward LNT-ness, which is contrary to my anti-political-correctness nature. When I'm out it the wilderness, I want it to look like wilderness, darn it—devoid of homo sapiens—not like some lumbersexual campfire store in San Francisco neatly organized by Miss Manners.

I think I'll go outside and throw some sticks into the woods

Thank you bluekanu and Glenn you made me chuckle.

André

 

[scoutergriz]

Thank you for your answers!

I am glad that many of you confirm the practice of leaving firewood.

After reading through the various posts, I searched the internet for LNT principles and found the following:
https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/minimize-campfire-impacts/. If you scroll down the page and click on “FIREWOOD AND CLEANUP” you will see:

• Firewood should be purchased from a local source or gathered responsibly where allowed.
• Standing trees, dead or alive, are home to birds and insects, so leave them intact. Fallen trees also provide bird and animal shelter, increase the soil’s water-holding capacity, and recycle nutrients back into the environment through decomposition.
• Stripping branches from standing or fallen trees detracts from an area’s natural appearance.
• Avoid cutting or breaking branches from standing or downed trees. Dead and down wood burns quickly, is easy to collect, and leaves less impact.
• Use small pieces of wood, no larger than the diameter of an adult wrist that can be broken with your hands.
• Gather wood over a wide area away from camp. Use dry driftwood on rivers and seashores.
• Burn all wood to white ash and thoroughly soak it with water to extinguish the fire. The ashes should be cool to the touch.
• In backcountry areas, scatter the remains over a large area away from camp. Ashes may have to be packed out in river corridors.
• Replace soil where you found it when cleaning up a mound or pan fire.
• Scatter unused wood to keep the area as natural looking as possible.
• Pack out any litter. Plastic items and foil-lined wrappers should never be burned on a campfire.

As some of you said, it seems like people were following LNT's recommendations. My reasoning now is that Quetico is closer to the urban centers than the areas I usually travel in. Quetico attracts a lot more visitors than Wabakimi, for example. More people means more different approaches to how to travel in the wilderness.



Well...don't get me started on this! I could talk for hours about optimal fire pits. I often have to rearrange the rocks before I light a fire.




Thank you bluekanu and Glenn you made me chuckle.

André

interesting ....
I taught LNT as part of my wilderness skills sessions for decades and never once found that in my course materials, so I suspect it was added in the last 10 years or so.
The ethics of LNT means doing as little damage as possible, and that includes wasting resources, which is exactly what that line is telling you to do. To put it in a somewhat crude analogy it's like buying a car, dumping out the full gas tank, and refilling it with fresh gas....
the labor and ecological damage was already done when that pile was collected, using it is actually repairing some of that damage- tossing it in the woods is not only wasting the resource, you're putting it in a different place which can cause damage in itself, then collecting "fresh gas" from elsewhere, changing THAT balance, and removing resources from that location too.
Using the pile protects other areas from damage, uses an existing resource wisely, and protects a new area from disruption.
LNT is about the ecosystem and best practices, not cosmetics and "feel goods"...