‘Leave No Trace’ as Fire Prevention Week kicks off
DRIGGS, Idaho (KIFI) – As Fire Prevention Week kicks off, the Caribou-Targhee National Forest is wanting to remind campers and hunters who may be in the forest to 'Leave No Trace.'
'Leave No Trace' is essentially to leave the campsite the same or better than you found it, making it seem as if you were never there in the first place. Jon Carnill, a Fire Prevention Technician with the Caribou-Targhee National Forest Palisades Ranger District, says last September, they saw the most unattended or improperly extinguished fires than they did all summer.
This means putting the fire all the way out before going to sleep or leaving the grounds. Carnill says, "What I often tell a lot of people is to make campfire soup. So you want to drown, stir, drown, feel; Dump water, stir it around with a shovel, feel for heat. If there's still heat, more water, more stirring and just repeat that process until you don't feel any heat."
Most campers or hunters tend to throw their trash right in the fire, expecting it to burn away. Carnill says that is actually not something we should be doing.
"Your fire is not going to completely break it (trash) down. It's not going to completely consume it, and it's liter getting left for the next person that comes in to your campsite. So whatever you pack in, just make sure it gets packed out," Carnill says.
In the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, you are also not allowed to bring pallets or scrap wood with nails. Carnill says Caribou-Targhee is one of the only National Forests with that restriction, but it's also the only place it seems to be an issue.
