Smoky the Bear Has Affected Forest Management Practices for Decades – October 2, 2019

prevent ForestFires” might be a big reason why California and the west coast have beenexperiencing catastrophic wildfires.

Fire season in California has been getting longer and moreintense. One major reason for the severity is fire suppression. Putting out fires is a message officials havetouted for more than a century. But as Matt Fidler, the creator of the new radioseries “California Burning” tell us, the message of fire suppression was mainlycirculated by a famous forest creature with an interesting history.

The Forest Service and other agencies are starting to use prescribed burns more often to reduce underbrush and prevent mega-fires. Learn more about how California native people commonly used fire to manage forests on our podcast “Living Downstream” at norcalpublicmedia.org.

(Photo: National Agricultural Library – Public domain)

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