Perhaps I'm stupid, but this whole thread seems to be based on the assumption that the OP cut branches from public land.

You shouldn't cut branches in a public park due to common courtesy and the fact that they do not belong to you (alone). In a much frequented "wilderness" area if there were no restrictions the area would soon be stripped bare. But in a true wilderness or on private property, "leave no trace" is just a silly "one size fits all" rule for dummies.

Here's a link to an interesting essay about "leave no trace" that someone else posted a while back:
http://www.purcelltrench.com/leaveatrace.htm

This quote pretty much sums it up:
Quote:
Primitive recreation isn’t about leaving only footprints, taking only pictures and killing only time. Primitive recreation is precisely about catching a wild trout and frying it over an open campfire, cooking a grouse on a spit, spending your evening around a magical and spiritual campfire like thousands of generations of wilderness users before you. Primitive recreation is not about heating a little water over a mechanical stove and pouring it into a foil bag of instant processed goop, then heading off to your plastic tent to huddle up with a book illuminated by your lantern.
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- Tom S.

"Never trust and engineer who doesn't carry a pocketknife."