Micah Booze has been a wildfire fighter since 2005 in Alaska, and his experience with surface sh*t (putting his hands in it) led him to start the A_S_S_ Movement, which stands for Against Surface Sh*tting Movement. Seeing and having to deal with turds and tissue on the surface of the land while fighting or follow-up up fires pushed him to launch a campaign.

 

The Tissue Issue

 

Imagine some dude dropping a deuce on your front lawn, and I am not talking about your granny’s Gin Rummy wild card. You would lose your mind, call the police and the hazmat team because technically, this is biological waste and who knows what kind of risk that might pose to you, your neighbors, and your lawn. I would be furious. While hunting grouse, bears, deer, and rabbits this fall, I came across tissues and turds at nearly every place I stopped. There was even a steaming pile of people poo and paper just behind a bench where people sit to fish at the edge of a lake we came across this fall when I was walking my granddaughter looking for wild cranberries. That pile was a stone’s throw from a working pit toilet.

 

I was furious.

 

In October, while bear hunting, at the end of a very long trail was a turd and a pile of tissue. The person who dropped that didn’t even try to hide what it was. The first week of November, when I set up my outfitter tent again, just where I was going to drive a stake, there was a tissue. May I say that I am thoroughly disgusted and disappointed in our collective behavior? There are only two reasons for this to happen: ignorance or being ignorant. Ignorance can be addressed with education; the latter, well, that will take some time. 

 

Micah Booze said, “You catch the eyesore quick when you have to put your hands in the dirt or even in fire pits where people put their waste. I just got tired complaining about it.” He decided to stop talking and start acting. The A_S_S_ Movement is the action-oriented result. You can follow him on Instagram at “the_a_s_s_movement” and follow and share.

 

What to do?

 

Micah Booze, the guy who started the A_S_S_ Movement, said, “I’ve spent a lot of time in the woods with my job. I’m a wildland firefighter in Alaska, but I travel the whole continental United States during fire season. The A_S_S_ Movement all stemmed as a parallel in my job and career out there in the wildlands and forests, places where people are camping. These are places where you don’t see many people.

 

“It used to be kind of a tissue issue but seeing people’s leftovers and trash and most importantly for the A_S_S_ Movement is their surface sh*ts––I guess to get right into the offensive stuff.  There is nothing near as offensive as stumbling across this tissue issue on your day off hiking or taking your family camping or hunting with some old-time friends. And then there you are a foot off the trail, and there’s a pile (of poop).

 

“It’s a stinky cross to bear, but I just got sick of it. So, what am I doing about it? Or what is anyone doing about it besides just talking and bitching and moaning? The A_S_S_Movement is a message with intent.”

 

Booze’s goal is to educate and encourage backwoods travelers to drop the deuce right correctly.

 

 

Bury it

 

The most accepted method to drop a deuce is to dig a ‘cat hole’ about 6-10 inches or 15-20 centimeters deep, drop, stir, cover, and tamp. The stirring introduces soil bacteria into the leavings and accelerates breakdown and incorporation into the soil. This method is suitable for backpackers, day-trippers, hunters, and so on. When several people are camped for a few days in the backcountry, a modification of this method is the trench. Dig a 6-10 inch15-20-centimeter-deep trench, keeping the excavated soil along the edge of the trench. Drop your load at one end, stir, cover, and tamp. The following user repeats the action as required, and as the trench gets filled in over a few days, campers can expand the trench.

 

Burn it

 

Being one of those lucky folks with an Outfitter tent, I set up on Crown Land a few weeks every year to pursue whatever game is open. Some of my best buddies and closest family members share the space for the mutual pursuit of game and enjoying the great outdoors. I felt a bit sheepish about our specific toilet routine until I re-read Meyer’s book. We burn it. Specifically, our method employs a specially designed toilet seat and lid that clamps on a five-gallon bucket. Insert a Kitchen Catcher plastic liner, deal the deuce, wipe, remove that bag (think doggie-do bag, just a bit bigger).  Roll that in a paper plate (to keep the bag from melting in the wood stove) and add it to the roaring fire that is making coffee, a nod to your fellow campers, sanitize your hands and carry on—a roaring fire in a stove: perfect.

 

Pack it out

 

“What? Are you kidding me? I am not packing that sh*t out.” Well, sometimes there is no choice but to do the right thing. Hiking glaciers? Yes, packing crap out is a big ask. But in some protected areas with a lot of traffic, it is expected. (Think Appalachian Trail) Yes, it may be best to pack it out. I wish the folks that peed on the roadside and wiped would pack those tissues in a doggie bag destined for the trash. Beyond the simple doggie bag for a tissue, there is an astounding myriad of poop packing devices available online. 

 

 

Go Prepared

 

 

If you’re hiking, hunting, fishing, or camping––in addition to a roll of toilet tissue––carry a trowel to dig a cat hole. You can use your hunting knife or pack ax to do the same. I have used the heel of my boot, a broken tree branch, or forest floor litter to make a suitable hole. When we camp, we plan and explain how the routine works to new campers. New folks usually snicker initially, and then they see that you and your hunting partner are dead serious.  “Okay, got it.” They say.

 

Special Consideration for Women

 

Let’s face it; our rural grandmothers had perfected the skillful art of lifting skirts and having a quick pee on the prairie or in the woods. Our polite urban society has eliminated the need to pass the skill on to the next generation of young women. Peeing in the woods is one place the gender equality discussion runs aground. Men and boys have been comfortably peeing in the woods forever. (And on the side of barns and granaries, trees, writing their names in the snow, and so on.)  But women and girls have specialty equipment that functions differently.

The grandma I share most of my camping trips with is a Saskatchewan farm girl. Let’s say she is adept. Recently she stepped off the trail with my two-year-old granddaughter to provide some clear and straightforward instruction. She also had a small plastic bag, so this little girl sees a competent demonstration of exactly how the operation works and what to do with the tissue at two years old. If your relationship with your grandmother allows her to demonstrate her skill, go ahead. Otherwise, Meyer recommends women practice the art of the squat in the shower or other safe-splash places to acquire the skill. (Her words, not mine.) An online search for “pee funnels” or “female urination devices” will reveal lavender silicon contraptions that close the gender gap firmly and decidedly quickly. Some cost less than $20 and are easily packed in a handbag or backpack.    

 

 

 

Be Prepared to Share

 

Hunters, they say, are judged by what they do when no one is looking. Well, we can see what was left behind when no one is looking.  Hunters and outdoors folks are appropriately skilled at shitting in the woods. Let’s find the right time to share our expertise. Can we please be careful to take better care of our wild spaces and roadside stops going forward? Please?

 

 

 

Sidebar: More resources

 

Another book worth reading is How to Sh*t Around the World: The Art of Staying Clean and Healthy While Traveling, by Jane Wilson-Howarth, initially published in 2000. Some of this book was previously published under the title “Sh*tting Pretty.” This book surveys the various toileting practices from around the world. It is an educational and preparation guide for the world traveler. Not every place in the world is equipped with sparkling porcelain and softwood paper rolls. This guidebook prepares you for what you might face for facilities in far-flung places.