Wow. A lot of disparate views on this subject — far more than I would have thought, since we all love the woods. Maybe that’s the problem, though: we all love the woods in different ways, or we were taught differently.
When I was young, several eons ago, the prevailing thought was to go into the woods with a ton of equipment ( big axes, saws, etc.), clear a space for a campsite, cut down trees to build large, sturdy shelters and roaring fires, and shoot anything you fancied for food — there was plenty of everything, so why not? Well, there really wasn’t plenty of everything, but that was The Woodsman’s Way, back then. A lot of people practiced that way of being out in the woods, because they didn’t know any better. That thinking came out of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and the “if it was good enough for Grandpaw, it’s good enough for me” school of thought... or thoughtlessness.
Skip ahead to to today where we have people who think that nothing should ever be touched. One shouldn’t even bring a knife into the woods, because — heaven forbid — one might be tempted to actually cut something. Everything needed should be carried in, using nothing from nature: fire, water — everything — should be provided by the latest high-tech gear. They would prefer that your feet don’t even touch the ground as you travel, lest you disturb a delicate ecosystem. These people would prefer that you don’t poop, either.
I’m somewhere in between. I try not to disrupt the balance out there, because I want it to last, and I want my fellow woods lovers to be able to enjoy the same woods I enjoy. I like to leave nature the way I found it, as much as I can. Well, as much as I can within reason, that is. I don’t believe in cutting green wood for poles to make shelters, for instance. At least in my area, that is, because it takes forever for most of them to grow back. I will, however, gather deadwood for a number of purposes. C’mon — it’s already dead, provides fuel for my fire, and cleans up the forest, too. As I walk along I often gather things like nettle leaves for din-din. When I’m stopped I’ll grab pine needles for tea. These things don’t hurt the forest, nor even the plant that I harvest them from, and grow back quickly.
I’m not big on huge, roaring fires (loved them when I was a kid, though). Nowadays, most of my fires are pretty small — what someone called “a hat full of fire” — and are mostly for cooking. Living in Southern California, we’re really, really careful about fires: it’s dry out here.
All in all, I believe in using some common sense. Be good to Mother Nature, and don’t leave scars on her. Think about what you’re doing, about what’s the right thing to do. Ask yourself if what you’re doing is going to leave a scar on Mom? If it is, then don’t do it. If it’s not, then go ahead (within reason). If you need a little vegetation that’s abundant, and grows back quickly, for the pot, then why not grab some? But if it’s the rare, endangered Unobtanium Lilly that only grows on one spot on Earth, then leave it alone. Eat some Pine needles instead.
Some have said that what they take doesn’t matter — they’re only one person, so how much harm could it cause? Well, it probably wouldn’t cause that much harm... if they were the only person doing it. Multiply that by hundreds, if not thousands, of people doing the same thing though and, well, you do have a problem, and it is causing harm.
I’m just saying that Mother nature is pretty special, and I have a fondness for the old gal, so I try to think about what I’m doing to her before i do it.
