Hello everyone! I tend to be an outdoors person as much as possible (I live in Michigan, there's not much else to do!). I do a lot of back country camping and I have a question for the board. I enjoy a good fire as much as the next outdoors man, but it seems to be illegal to have one everywhere I go unless you're camping in a campground with a fire pit. C'mon people... if I'm walking right into the middle of nowhere (say a huge state park in the upper peninsula), I'd like to enjoy my own little fire. Does anyone know just how "illegal" this is? I'm not a pyro, but I'd like to warm up at the end of a 15 mile hike. Any comments?

Welcome aboard Raptorman!

Yes, it seems that more and more places are making it difficult to legally have a fire out in the woods.

As to "how illegal" it is, you would have to contact your states Fire Marshall or Dept of Fish and Wildlife/Resources, or your county Judge Executive or your states Park Service.

It all depends on who makes the rules for the land you are camping/hiking on.

For instance, we do a lot of hunting/camping on the back side of our farm and can have have fires whenever we want, "Unless" it is very dry and the County Judge Executive issues a "Burn Ban" to keep crops/forests from being destroyed.

Sorry that I couldn't be of any more help.

Hey thanks for the reply. I'll check the sources you recommended out. Have you ever heard of anyone getting fined for something like this?

I have heard of people being fined for having a fire in The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, here in Kentucky when there was a "No Fires" ban in place due to dry conditions.

As far as for farmers burning brush or dozer piles when the Burn Bans are in effect, I have never heard of a fine unless a fire got out of control and the Fire Dept. was called. (not to say that there were never any fines issued for fires that stayed in control. I just never heard of them)

I have no idea how much the fines in either case were.

it seems like there is constantly a burn ban here in oklahoma.

land between the lakes huh? i'm a fellow kentuckian too, i was born in paducah, ky. of course, pops was in the airforce so we moved around alot, but we'd always end up back in ky when he'd go overseas...

quote:

Originally posted by Demogorgon:
it seems like there is constantly a burn ban here in oklahoma.

land between the lakes huh? i'm a fellow kentuckian too, i was born in paducah, ky. of course, pops was in the airforce so we moved around alot, but we'd always end up back in ky when he'd go overseas...

Always glad to "meet" a fellow Kentuckian on the forums!

I am born and raised (and still live) in Graves County, not far from Mayfield and go to Paducah fairly regularly.

LBL has now been taken over by the NPS and is no longer run by TVA.

I liked it better when TVA took care of things over there.

I grew up spending a lot of time on LBL land as my dad worked for TVA over there and us kids would ride in to work with him (back in the 70's) and run all over the place in the woods surrounding Empire Farm. (Empire Farm sadly is now closed)

Paducah is still growing and now has its own Gander Mountain store out next to the mall.

Correction: LBL is now managed/run by the USDA/Forest Service.

Have you considered a fire pan? Two downsides to them, weight and some places would still consider them an open fire even with a metal bottom and sides. If you are motorcamping, take one of those portable firepits with the mesh covers.

In Utah it's still pretty lax unless the forest fire danger is high. In the desert a fire pan is a good idea so you can leave the area as you found it. I tend to go there in the middle of summer when no fires are needed.

I grew up in the Detroit area and my memories of the UP were that you couldn't ignite it with napalm.

quote:

Originally posted by WWSmith:
Have you considered a fire pan? Two downsides to them, weight and some places would still consider them an open fire even with a metal bottom and sides. If you are motorcamping, take one of those portable firepits with the mesh covers.

Yes a fire pan would be handy when driving by vehicle or ATV, but I sure wouldn't want to carry one in my pack if I was a foot!

I lived in the Black Hills in South Dakota for a number of years and open fires are prohibited in the National Forest unless in a fire pit in a campground or in the small portion of the NF that is in Wyoming. I talked to a Ranger about this once and he explained that the issue was not just potential forest fires (which are a big issue there) but also a conservation issue. The heat from a campfire essentially sterilizes the ground beneath it creating a dead spot. Certain types of invasive plants can survive in poor soil conditions more readily than native species so these dead spots are quickly reseeded with unwanted types of plants that can spread and choke out the ponderosa pine saplings and other “good” plants. Not sure if that has anything to do with burn bans in other places but it might be something to look into.