is it ok to take empty camp site fire wood

I ask the camp office at one SP about the left behind wood and they said if the folks pulled out and left it then by all means take it. The office can not resell it. Take it and use it.... Happy camping.

 

I'm not even sure that that's it. I'm not certain he's saying "Do what I say." He seems to have created an argument that not even he believes in and then proceeded to try and defend it over a few more posts. For what purpose, I have no idea, other than the self-proclaimed crusade to teach the misguided flock about the virtues of right and wrong.

My response: Sure, 1380, that makes sense. I'm with you 100%. [As I get up and slowly back away from the table while smiling and nodding ... careful not to make any sudden movements until I am far, far away]

 

One of the points 1380ken keeps mentioning is "private campground." First, that distinction is completely irrelevant for me because I never stay at private campgrounds. But, I don't think it matters anyway because as I said before, once I buy the wood it's mine to do with as I wish.

1380ken:

Having said that, you have no basis to continue the discussion.

 

I always check empty campsites for left behind firewood. I also scrounge for firewood along trails. Do you think it's okay since I didn't actually cut it up?

 

Anyone who has been camping for any length of time understands the "tradition" of leaving firewood for subsequent campers. An empty site is not a campsite. It's a former campsite and a potential campsite. It's a campsite when it's occupied.

 

Out here, it depends. Some campgrounds are in national forests, national parks and state forests. I forget which, but they usually state if it is illegal to gather firewood and others encourage it! Check the rule (usually online).

 

Sorry I do not really care that much about whether someone takes fire wood from empty sites. It is a trivial thing, but I do like to argue and probably shouldn't of replied. I do think that if someone is really into looking for firewood in empty sites then it takes away the opportunity for someone to have some wood at a site when they first get there. As far as me being a liberal and "Do what I say not what I do" that is a stretch. If the original poster even had to ask if it okay then it probably isn't.
This question is like asking if it is a lie if you tell your wife she doesn't look fat.

 

^^^ this is what I suspected all along, 1380ken likes to 'stir the pot'... he certainly has kept many of us entertained with his 'opinions'. And he certainly has riled quite a few portal members with those opinions. Drama to ease the camping withdrawal.

 

You are right I like to stir the pot way too much. It is something that I need to work on. I am from the Boston area so it is in my nature to be a bit of a jerk.

 

+1 in my 50+ years of camping, I have stayed at privater CG less then 10 times.

 

I was saying private campgrounds to keep it simple, without the argument that we all own the public camp sites.
I think many people miss my point. The point that you bought the wood and don't care what happens to it has nothing to do with the argument. If someone leaves firewood at a campsite for the next campers it should go to the next campers not the guy walking around the campground like a vulture looking for free wood.
I am new here so I am unaware that people who don't stay at private campgrounds are better somehow than people who do stay at private campgrounds. I have been tent camping for 30 years and had never even stayed at any campgrounds until I had children. With kids the showers and swimming pools at the private campgrounds are a big plus.

 

The only way I would not pick up wood that was left behind if I need wood. Would be if the CG had a rule about it.

But I have never seen at any camp ground that I stayed at that had a rule not to remove or burn wood that was left at a CS. But I assume there are some CG's out there that have such rule, but I never stayed at one.

I'm sure if the owner of a private CG was concern about people taking wood that was left behind, they would add it to his rules for the camp ground and let you know about it when you arrived.

My experience is that when the park employees cleans up a CS next to me that there is wood left at. If i'm outside they ask me if I want it. I normally have my own wood and don't need it, or I would have taken it before they arrived.

 

How do you know what's in the mind of the people who left the firewood?
When I leave wood behind I don't feel like I'm littering the campsite, I know someone will use it and I am leaving it behind because I don't want to deal with it.
I would not leave empty coffee cans thinking someone may need them.
Wood is part of the natural setting.

 

I would assume that they would communicate their wishes if they did not want anyone taking it. They would put a note on the wood or tell the neighboring campers that they were only leaving it for the next camper or CG owner. Otherwise, I think it is for anyone that needs the wood. I would honor their wish if I walked up to wood that had a note, and I think most other people would do the same. Communication is the key if you don't want just anyone to use it.

When people leave things or money to a charity they either blindly give it to be used for anything the charity has in their charter, or define it's use.

 

1380ken said:

That's the essence of the issue and it is where you are incorrect, ken. Since it is MY property I can choose to give it to whomever I wish and when I leave it behind I am giving it to anyone who wants it. You are making the assumption that the offer for the wood is limited to the next inhabitant of that particular campsite. That assumption is not logically warranted.

Again, that's your viewpoint, but it's not my intent nor is it a logical requirement. The term "next campers" can just as easily be defined as the next person or group to enter the campground as the next person or group to use that particular site. The distinction is one you have made up in your mind and does not exist in the real world.

BTW, this same sort of assumptive thinking is the source or a lot of legal, political and religious problems. That would make an even more interesting (and perhaps explosive) discussion but we are not supposed to talk about such things here on the Portal so I won't pursue that line of thought.

 

Ken made an interesting point.......
If the previous camper on the site I'm about to occupy left a bunch of firewood, I guess I would rather have it than someone else driving around the campsites collecting it.
That being said, I know I would have no claim to it, but I would still rather have it.

 

In your example I would rather be the recipient of free wood too, Bullfrog, but my point is that if someone else gets it before I arrive I haven't been "robbed." No one can steal from me something which I never had. It was left for another camper and another camper (just not me) got it. Fair enough.

 

Agreed.

 

It appears some people think it's OK and others do not. In the absence of posted campground rules follow your own ethics.

 

It's firewood...cut and split expressly for the purpose of having a fire. If it's left for someone else to use...why not?
Seems to me it would be more wrong (and wasteful) NOT to burn it and leave it there to get rained on and eventually go to waste.