I have always been able to break it. Never been any problem in the South and East.

Lets be real, if anyone REALLy practiced leave no trace, we wouldnt even be able to step into the woods. How do thousands of white blaze marks on trees count as LNT? Not only that, but standing dead wood can be extremely dangerous in storms with high winds, i speak from a recent experience that almost ended very badly. I was by myself about 2 miles into the woods in Red River Gorge geological area on the Buckskinner Hill trail in eastern Ky on a very windy day, when i heard a huge crack, and a 40-50 ft dead tree with about a 22 inch diameter fell and missed me by about 6 ft, directly behind me. So i dont think its completely wrong to cut down dead wood if it posses a danger to someone.

So i dont think its completely wrong to cut down dead wood if it posses a danger to someone.

And trail crews clear trails, too, to make areas accessible to more people. No one is expecting a pristine wilderness in such areas. There would be complaints if trails were no longer cleared.

But that is accepted as a sane compromise. The expectation is that no one traveling through the country add impact to whatever has already been done to make the area accessible to more people.

--MV

Edited by blean on 05/20/2010 11:53:30 MDT.