Talk:Smokey Bear/Archives/2014
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wildfires versus forest fires
"In 2001, [the slogan] was officially amended to replace "forest fires" with "wildfires", as a reminder that other areas (such as grasslands) are also in danger of burning."
This is not correct. It was traditionally assumed that most forest fires were the result of human carelessness (or arson). In fact, forest fires have multiple causes, including lightning strikes. They're "natural", part of the normal cycle of destruction and regrowth. Preventing forest fires can have the paradoxical effect of causing worse forest fires, due to buildup of flammable material (such as dead trees). Forest fires are sometimes started deliberately, to clear out this detritus. They are, by definition, not wildfires. WilliamSommerwerck (talk) 18:04, 14 May 2014 (UTC)