Where my place is in the mountains, we are very lucky to have a forest service owned/run slash burn pit.
It is a large area, roughly 1/4 mile X 200yds, 4-10' dp, and was created when the highway was put in; it was a quarry, the source of rock/gravel for building the highway.
It is <3 miles from my place.
They divided it into 2 halves, and you can dump any natural materials- logs, tree trimmings, leaves, pine needles, etc.
When one half is full, they close it, open the other half, and burn the closed pit.
There is also a smaller pit for dumping rock, dirt, etc.
The idea is to eventually fill the pit with "natural" materials, to restore it.
The problems come from (of course) a$$hole people.
There are only two rules, only natural materials, and dump at the rear of the pit, filling towards the entrance. (clearly marked in multiple places)
The biggest daily problem is people dumping garbage, building supplies, old appliances, etc., that the forest service then has to spend $$$ to remove.
(I have had two flats from nails from old building materials)
The other problem is that people are too lazy or too stupid to dump at the rear, usually blocking off huge areas of space that can't be filled.
This causes the forest service more work, time, and money (more of my tax $) to haul a big bulldozer out there to "push" the slash into piles, opening up the area for use again. (which AHs promptly block off again)
The forest service regularly gets fed up the the stupidity and threatens to close the pit, forcing everyone to haul the slash to a pay dump, a 90 mile round trip.
In past times, the FS had an employee stationed at the pit, who watched/directed people to do things correctly, but that practice is long gone in these days of budget cuts and fear of confronting anyone.
Still, even with all the problems, we are lucky to have the pit so near, and I hope it stays available.
Saves me from having to burn on the land, and, even more importantly, keeps the idiots around me from burning on the land.
