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Re: [at-l] LNT 12- Smokey's revenge!

In a message dated 3/8/98 6:52:16 PM Eastern Standard Time,
thewitt@spf.fairchildsemi.com writes:

<< One of my biggest fears of the current crop of LNT thinkers who avoid fire
at
 all costs, is that these are the folks we will be hauling off the mountain
 after they succumb to the cold.  I teach responsible fire making to my Boy
 Scouts, and it's a skill and a philosophy that I mean for them to live with
 the rest of their lives. >>

As a fellow Scouter,  I wish to object to the line of reasoning in the above
paragraph.  First,  if someone is responsible enough to apply LNT
intelligently,  they will be able to address a hypothermia situation as well.
I have never heard an LNT enthusiast suggest that a fire is not proper if used
to save a life.  My own experience is that LNT principles are exceedingly
difficult to teach to scouts and especially their parents.  By comparison,
"teach(ing) responsible fire making" is a cake-walk and not a night goes by on
every campout that somebody clamors for the obligatory campfire.

The problem is that we LNT advocates are fighting against an atavistic urge
and inertia that rarely accepts limitations on firemaking even in situations
(dry,  windy,  lack of fuel,  warm weather) where a more reasoned approach
would counsel forbearance.  Am I the only one who is saddened to arrive at
campsites where regulations require that firewood be brought from outside the
park?  And yet everyone seems to bring pickuploads of wood in to have that
campfire?  To me that is stupid.  We have already denuded the land around the
campsite,  and yet we have to have our fire,  unconscious of the environmental
havoc we cause.

Most of the arguments I see against LNT are understandably attempting to rail
against the necessity of acting differently than our ancestors.  It's hard to
practice procedures that are outside of our comfort zone.  Yet,  if you read
Charlie Thorpe's posts carefully,  you will see that for every LNT principle
he espouses,  there is a reason for it.  We all hate rules out in the
wilderness.  It rubs us the wrong way.  But when we grasp the hard reality
that we are loving our wilderness to death,  the need for LNT becomes crystal
clear.

I,  for one,  would like to applaud Charlie for the tremendous service he has
done by publishing his LNT materials.  I have been pasting them into a word
processing document that is now 25 pages long that,  with his permission,  I
will pass out and use in an LNT seminar with my Scouts.

Happy trails,

Solar Bear

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