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Teaching Leave No Trace

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Activity Plan

Minimize Use and Impact of Fire: A Leave No Trace Activity Exploring Fire and Stoves

What Your Group Will Learn

After participating in an activity designed to study various options for fires, group members will be capable of:

1. determining if a campfire is a necessary component of camping.
2. assessing what areas can ecologically or aesthetically withstand another campfire with minimal impact.
3. building minimum impact fires in both high use and remote areas.

Participants are going to compare how fast they can heat water on a camp stove, camp fire and a mound fire. They will then assess the value of each cooking method.

Materials

• A backpack stove, fueled and ready.
• Three small pans for heating water.
• Water jug.
• Firewood small to large sizes.
• Mineral soil for a mound fire
• Ground cloth or plastic garbage bag to gather soil.
• Enough unscarred rocks to build 1) a traditional camp fire ring and, 2) for a base for the fire pan.
• Fire pan (metal garbage can lid, oil pan, or other fire pan substitute). n Chocolate mix and cups for drinking.
• Chocolate mix and cups for drinking

Preparation

• Locate an area that will permit the group to safely and responsibly build fires.
• Read the entire lesson plan and Back ground Information thoroughly. It is necessary for group members to know how to use a fire pan and how to build a mound fire before beginning this activity. This activity should take approximately 60 minutes to complete.
• Practice building a mound fire prior to the meeting so you are familiar with the process.
• Scatter the unscarred rocks and fire wood over the surrounding ground.
• Place the soil for the mound fire nearby.

Grabbing Your Groups Attention: 15 minutes

Explain to the group that there are three ways to prepare food for camp meals: pre-made cold meals, meals cooked over fires, or meals cooked on a camp stove. Group members are going to compare the value of stoves and fires when making hot chocolate. But first, they will help the leader demonstrate how to build a true Leave No Trace fire.

Demonstrate how to build a mound fire. Follow the directions for building a mound fire found in the Background Information. Use group members to help you gather soil, fire wood, and clean up when you are through. Help participants understand how a properly built mound fire leaves almost no trace of the fire. The entire process of building the mound fire, extinguishing the fire, and cleaning up should be limited to about 15 minutes.

Steps for Teaching the Activity - 30 minutes

The Heat Is On: Participants are going to compare how fast they can heat water on a camp stove, a fire built using a fire pan, and a traditional camp fire. After heating the water and making their chocolate, group members will at tempt to remove all evidence of the fire (e.g. traces of ashes, dirt, firewood, etc.). This process will help participants think about the advantages of stoves, mound fires, or fire pans over traditional campfires.

Explain to group members that they are going to conduct an experiment to demonstrate the pros and cons of fire use. Divide the par pants into three groups. Each group will:

1. prepare a fire source
2. boil water and make hot chocolate
3. clean up the site so no one can tell they have been there.

Ask one group to use a stove, one a fire pan, and one a new rock-ring fire. Have each group keep track of how long it takes to prepare the chocolate and clean up the site.

Note: It will be necessary to supervise the groups as they light the stove and construct the campfires from the materials you have provided. Read the Background Information and instruct the fire-pan group on the proper way to build a pan fire.

Time Out for Discussion: Leaving no trace does not simply mean putting out the fire and cleaning up the trash. There should be no evidence that the fire ever existed. Here are points to remember when using and discussing the activity:

• Make it a special challenge to Leave No Trace.
• Is the ground scarred?
• Is there evidence of charred wood? All campfires require crushing coals to ash, soaking with water to eliminate fire danger, and disposal of the ash (even fires built in existing and properly located fire rings should be cleaned)
• Are there scarred rocks?
• Is soil noticeably disturbed in and around the cooking site?

Which method of boiling water was fastest? The stove will most likely be the fastest method of boiling water. Fires require more preparation time, especially if proper care is taken to Leave No Trace.

Which method would the group prefer if they were very hungry, it was raining, or they were camped on rocky terrain where a fire was impractical?

What problems arose during clean up? How successful were the fire builders at leaving no sign whatsoever of their fire?

A true Leave No Trace fire should leave virtually no sign of its existence. Did the fire builders meet this standard? Ease of clean up will generally follow this order:

• Easiest: stove. Stoves require virtually no clean up when used properly.
• More difficult: fire pan. The pan fire, set on rocks or some other suitable surface, will not damage the land, but will still require disposal of ash.
• Most difficult: traditional rock fire ring. Traditional fires will scar the surface upon which they were built, requiring reclamation of the fire site. These fires are usually built with rocks which become permanently scarred. Did the group take the time to wash soot off rocks?

Wrapping Up the Activity - 15 minutes

Your group has had the opportunity to experience and discuss the benefits and procedures for building different types of fires. How well have they learned to minimize their impact with fires?

• Summarize the advantages and disadvantages of campfires and backing stoves.
• Can the group describe the preferred techniques for building a fire in high-use areas?
• What are some of the no-trace fire building practices in pristine areas? n What are some ways to enjoy the night without a campfire? (Stars more no able, might hear small animal sounds more easily, the darkness enhances story telling...)

Congratulations on conducting a well-prepared meeting for your group!