“Camping… because it takes place in a natural environment rather than an urban one, has seemed to many to be best served by letting physical facilities develop almost by chance or immediate need rather than in any planned order. It is a mistake to expect that naturalism results or is retained automatically by adoption of a ‘laissez-faire’ attitude. The balance of any segment of our natural environment is upset by entrance of man. The longer he stays and the larger his numbers, the more destructive his presence to this balance. He builds shelters, opens clearings, plants trees, creates roads and paths, drills wells, deposits sewage, and in a hundred ways, impinges on environment, inevitably and irrevocably changing it. A new balance must be created and, if the result is to be controlled, changes must be preceded by intelligent planning.
2
Planning, therefore, is as necessary for the most natural and informal developments as it is for the most highly urbanized areas.” —Bradford G. Sears
I
n the beginning, camps were simple places. All it took for a summer of fun was to find a site, solicit a group of willing adult volunteers, set up several platform tents, build a pit latrine and start the camp fire. While this model is still possible today, the following components are a necessity:
An operator’s license from the state Liability insurance Drawing preparation Site and building permits Proper bathroom, shower and dining facilities Water quality testing