Originally Posted by
indyfabz
Interesting. What’s the reasoning? Maybe to discourage people from starting fires? I’ve never seen that in government-run places in the US.
In the NP's they are very focused on maintaining natural habitat. Rather than a money making venture for tourists they are tasked with maintaining the park in a way that preserves the habitat that will allow it to remain viable indefinitely. In a way, people are seen as visitors to the animals home.
It's a numbers thing as you have to multiply the amount of fuel each person uses starting a fire by the number of annual visitors. They all have fire wood available in wood lots (chopped up Jack Pine) so people don't have to do that. Mostly you need a hatchet to split but a person could find smaller bits for a twig stove easily enough.
They are also very strict about maintaining a clean camp. No cook gear on picnic tables, coolers in cars etc... There are bear boxes for hikers/bikers. The sites are spaced out so wildlife can travel through campsites instead of around them.
It all sounds authoritarian but the experience of being close to nature is pretty cool. Below is a pic I took on the way to the outhouse.
Provincial Parks are the same but they are funded differently and often suffer from private/public partnerships that create issues of needing to suppliment the operators cost, who are often contractors. They also don't have the same overarching philosophical approach or support. But the ecological impact mitigation strategy is the same - probably worse, or more needed as there are more visitors per area than the NP's.
Also, there is a time each year (unless the fire threat is low) when fires are forbidden provincially. During that time you can only use stoves with shut offs as mentioned earlier. That never bothers me as I seldom want a fire when biking anyways. After eating I usually hit the sack and listen to music. But it's a consideration against using a wood powered stove in the summer if your plans include travelling through the parks.
