Environmentally Responsible Camping

[Scott Brady]

From Tread Lightly:

TREAD LIGHTLY WHEN CAMPING: 10 WAYS TO REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT


As more Americans opt for inexpensive, local vacations, public land agencies are experiencing a rise in overnight visits in some areas. Rangers and nonprofit groups are reminding these campers to find ways to minimize their impact on the environment when in the outdoors.

“We are happy to have any new visitors in our forests,” said Jamie Schwartz, Outdoor Ethic's Program Manager for the US Forest Service. “Along with their tents and sleeping bags, we are asking campers to bring along a good set of outdoor ethics when they come.”

The nonprofit organization “Tread Lightly!” has released ten ways visitors can be more environmentally sensitve when camping on public land.

1. Whenever possible, use existing campsites. Camp on durable surfaces and place tents on a non-vegetated area. Do not dig trenches around tents.
2. Camp a least 200 feet from water, trails, and other campsites.
3. Pack out what you pack in. Carry a trash bag and pick up litter left by others.
4. Repackage snacks and food in baggies. This reduces weight and the amount of trash to carry out.
5. For cooking, consider using a camp stove instead of a campfire. Camp stoves leave less of an impact on the land.
6. Observe all fire restrictions. If you must build a fire—use existing fire rings, build a mound fire, or use a fire pan. Use only fallen timber for campfires. Do not cut standing trees. Clear a ten-foot diameter area around the site by removing any grass, twigs, leaves and extra firewood. Also, make sure there aren't any tree limbs or flammable objects hanging overhead.
7. Allow the wood to burn down to a fine ash, if possible. Pour water on the fire and drown all embers until the hissing sound stops. Stir the campfire ashes and embers until everything is wet and cold to the touch. If you don’t have water, use dirt.
8. Detergents, toothpaste and soap harm fish and other aquatic life. Wash 200 feet away from streams and lakes. Scatter gray water so it filters through the soil.
9. In areas without toilets, use a portable latrine if possible, and pack out your waste. If you don’t have a portable latrine, you may need to bury your waste. Human waste should be disposed of in a shallow hole six to eight inches deep at least 200 feet from water sources, campsites, or trails. Cover and disguise the hole with natural materials. It is recommended to pack out your toilet paper. High use areas may have other restrictions, so check with a land manager.
10. Following a trip, wash your gear and support vehicle to reduce the spread of invasive species.

More information can be found at www.treadlightly.org.

[TheGillz]

Sounds so simple doesn't it? Man I was frustrated w/ some of my friends last weekend....sigh.

[Carlyle]

I always pack out my beer cans and recycle them at home.

[TheRoadie]

But the used beer - that gets scattered and filtered through the soil. Got it.

[Paul R]

I wish everyone thought of others when outdoors, I have come accross way too many irresponsible outdoor users.

That is a great list

[Redline]

Sure is easier to do those things while being 'vehicle dependent' or supported.

[77blazerchalet]

I'll bet there's a majority of us in this forum who have "an llth way" to be more environmentally sensitive when we camp, where we pack out a small portion of other insensitive clods' trash when we leave a campsite. I've done this for decades, in my little trash bags there's always a bit of room for other peoples' cigarette butts, bottle caps, empty snack sacks, etc.

[calamaridog]

No doubt some of the people here pack out more than just small quantities of trash left by other "users".

I'm not sure what to think. More users taxing an already overburdened system and staff. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

[Flounder]

Fire rings make me absolutely crazy. I haven't sat around a camp fire in years, as the public has just abused the good old camp fire.

Several years ago I headed up a project to record and photograph all of the fire rings in a local canyon. The canyon is only 2.3 miles long. We found 74 fire rings in that 2.3 mile area. In some places, there were as many as 6 or 8 fire rings visible from one spot. There were fire rings placed a few feet from existing fire rings. We also pulled out 200+ pounds of broken glass and trash from within the rings themselves.

I've seen people brag about how low impact they are only to leave behind a big black hole of a fire pit in their wake.

Camp fires.

[calamaridog]

Camp fires.

At established campgrounds, I don't see the problem. At primative sites, you should have to keep it off the ground and pack it out.