This day in history: The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time on this day in 1944. A campaign began in 1944 featuring Smokey and the slogan "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires". His slogan changed to "Remember... Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires" in 1947 and was associated with Smokey Bear for more than five decades. In April 2001, the message was officially updated to "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires."
But what if you are not allowed to prevent wildfires? "Years ago, the California government began interfering with local efforts to bulldoze the deadwood out of forests as part of a forest management plan to reduce fire risk. This was all done, of course, under the banner of 'environmentalism,' usually with emotional pleas to 'save the wildlife' by leaving all the forests alone. Year after year, the deadwood built up. It was only a matter of time, of course, before a fire would be ignited by lightning (Mother Nature’s natural fire starter). Fueled by the tremendous underbrush that was no longer being cleaned out of the forests, the fires erupted with catastrophic ferocity. 'Extreme environmentalists have shut down public access. They talk about habitat, and yet they are willing to burn it up,' warned Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in an interview with KCRA. 'This has nothing to do with climate change. This has to do with active forest management,' he said." Source
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