The Apache Tribe in the White Mountains has more than 1.6 million acres of land in the White Mountains, some of which can be used for camping. The tribe issues permits to use the campgrounds and charges nightly or monthly fees to use the campsites. Aside from banning fires during the fire season, the tribe has strict rules regarding campfires and their placement.
Campers have to use the established fire ring at a campsite and cannot create new rings. The only wood that campers can burn is dead or downed wood. Campers cannot cut or break green branches from trees, nor can campers transport firewood away from the campground. The fires that campers build must be a controllable and reasonable size and not pose a threat to surrounding trees. Campers must extinguish the fire thoroughly when leaving the campsite, even for a few minutes.
Backpackers or campers can access the primitive areas within the reservation with a special permit. Unlike established campgrounds, campers cannot build fire rings for a campfire. It is even more important to make sure that fires are small and controllable in the primitive areas because help might be far away, and fires can get out of control quickly. People who start forest fires in Arizona can be legally prosecuted with high fines and prison terms, no matter which entity owns the land.
The regulations the White Mountain Apache Tribe enforces limit the damage to the environment caused by campfires and reduce the chances of forest fires. Removing the wood or plants from the reservation carries a fine and can spread diseases or insects to other parts of the forest off the reservation land. Not using fire rings in primitive lands helps the site recover from campfires.
