Quote:There is plenty of air under ground to sustain fire. One of the ways forest fires travel is by burning underground, following a tree's root system.
That's true, but you need enough of a heat source to ignite any combustible material that you may find underground.
On a river trip in Northern Ontario when I was still a group paddler, we came upon a site right on the river where some paddlers/fishermen ahead of us had made a fire pit on a little peninsula that jutted out into the river.
Problem was the soil over the root system was barely enough to cover the roots/rocks.
The hot campfire settled into the fire pit, even though from the surface it looked like the coals were out.
When we came upon it, there was smoke coming out of numerous holes in the ground and at the base of a few small trees.
We spent an hour or so pouring water down every smoking hole we could find. We left wondering if it had been enough but we saw no smoke later in the day and when we got out and told the outfitter where the site was at, he said they had no reports on a fire in the area.
You can satisfy your curiosity or prove me dead wrong in your own back yard if anyone has a mind too?
Dig a small cat hole in a moist area, ignite 2 pieces of facial tissue and after they burn, cover with dirt and tamp the soil down tight.
No-WAY in Hell there is enough heat from 2 burned Kleenex to ignite a root system in moist conditions.
MP makes a valid point, no matter how you deal with the TP issue, or the laws they make, how are you going to enforce it or police the Yahoos or Newbie's?
I'd bet 90% of ALL campers are afraid after dark in a setting like Quetico/BWCA to venture much more than a few feet away from their tent after dark and no way their going in the bush to do their business.
One good thing about the Q, with the ability to stay anywhere you can set-up a camp, you can avoid overused areas much more than in the BW.
I don't mind doing a little "house keeping" but I'm not spending hours cleaning up someone's mess, especially if that mess involves fecal matter.