Originally Posted by hokiefyd

I initially had the same reaction that you did. I initially likened it to making sand castles at a beach. We're just moving sand around into a different shape -- how bad is that?

But then it clicked with me -- what if everybody built sand castles and then walked away? Sure, one person doing it on a remote beach may not ever be noticed by anyone. And one person building a wind shelter and leaving it there in a remote woods may, also, not ever be noticed by anyone. But if this was the general rule (to build something and then walk away), and tens, or hundreds, or thousands of people did that, especially at areas enjoyed by many (like more popular beaches or state/national park areas), then the place wouldn't look so...natural anymore. Joggers probably wouldn't care to dodge dilapidated sand castles everywhere as they ran the beach, and hikers probably wouldn't care to look at or even have to hike around dilapidated wind shelters as they tried to enjoy the grandeur of the mountains or woods or wherever it is.

Like many things, this seems to be an issue only in aggregate numbers. If one guy does it, then it's probably not a big deal. But if everyone thinks they're just that one guy, and building-and-walking-away becomes the general practice, the nature will eventually start to look...less natural. I acknowledge, though, that there's probably a wide spectrum of scenarios where this is either more or less applicable. Again, something in the remote bush is likely to never be seen by anyone else again. But it would be more visible, and more problematic, if in a popular hiking area or state park situation.