OK. I give up. What are these hooks for?
At Lake Catherine State Park the RV sites have these green hooks, and I can't figure out what they're for. The entire assembly is probably six feet tall. There's a hook at the end that is obviously ...
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Those are most certainly for lanterns. Today, with most people using LED lanterns, it is not quite so important. But in the past (and still in limited use today) when people use Coleman (gas) lanterns, they often would put a nail in an adjacent tree and hang the lantern there. It was not the nail that is of concern, but the high heat from the lantern kills the cambium (xylum and phloem - the circulatory system of the tree) in that spot.
If you look around the trees that closely border most campsites, you will see big, ugly scars on many of them. That comes from people having hung their gas lanterns on those trees. These dead spots (literally open sores in the bark of the tree) can weaken and even kill the tree. I know this as a result of being both a forester and having managed public land campgrounds for many years.
The metal pole hooks give people a place to hang their lanterns where they won't do any damage. Of course, you can hang other things from there too. But please...not windchimes.
If you look around the trees that closely border most campsites, you will see big, ugly scars on many of them. That comes from people having hung their gas lanterns on those trees. These dead spots (literally open sores in the bark of the tree) can weaken and even kill the tree. I know this as a result of being both a forester and having managed public land campgrounds for many years.
The metal pole hooks give people a place to hang their lanterns where they won't do any damage. Of course, you can hang other things from there too. But please...not windchimes.
