Smokey’s story may start as early as 1910 when extreme fires in Idaho and Montana burned three million acres and killed 86 people. The public, commercial, and federal reaction to fire suppression was strong. The federal perspective had a focus on preventing the loss of timber, and developing a system of lookout towers, trails, and phone lines to quickly stop fires. In a 1910 annual report the indigenous practice of forest management with controlled burns was described as “unthinkable… for a future production of timber.” As a result, traditional, indigenous forest management and uses were prevented.
In 2001 Smokey's slogan was changed to “Only YOU can prevent wildfires.” This was in recognition of the important use of controlled burns.
In the 1940s there were Forest Service studies on the use of prescribed burns. The logging industry which supported fire suppression was also using practices that made fire worse. In 1960 a Rocky Mountain Research Station report listed a number of devastating fires that were made worse by slash (branches and other tree material left from logging). Research was also showing that aggressive suppression of fires was allowing dense buildups of flammable materials and more intense, destructive fires. Low- intensity fires set naturally and monitored or as purposefully set as part of land management reduces the amount of fuel and therefor can reduce the severity of a fire without destroying mature trees. Another factor in the severity of a wildfire is the overall health of the forest. Drought, dead trees as a result of bark beetle or other pests can lead to intense wildfires and cause conditions where prescribed burns can’t be controlled.
Ironically, the indigenous land management method that were disallowed by the forest service are now promoted. The National prescribed fire resource mobilization strategy states the agency will “continue to work with Tribes, partners, and communities to expand prescribed burning on National Forest System and other lands. We still have much to learn from Tribal Nations, and Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge is invaluable as we work to return fire to the landscape.”
For some this transition in thought and policies comes far too late and Smokey is also a symbol of indigenous oppression. Forest service polices not only stopped fire, they stropped traditional use of resources often for the benefit of commercial exploitation. Farzad Forouhar wrote “Smokey Bear is an excellent example of an institutionalized environmental management regime, which is also power-laden because it has the power of the USFS and the state, which helps it become a dominant discourse.”
Read more: PSW Ecologist Frank Lake Shares How Indigenous Knowledge Promotes Healthy Forests
The methods for fighting fires took on a military aspect in the 1940s. In 1940 the first “smokejumpers” Rufus Robinson and Earl Cooley parachuted into the Nez Perce National Forest. The creation of units of parachuting fire fighters began in 1939 and was developed at the same time as airborne Army units. During the war many of the Smokejumpers were conscience objectors. The 555th Airborne Battalion, an African American unit of paratroopers known as the Triple Nickles, were involved in Operation Firefly to extinguish fires and dispose of Japanese firebombs.
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