A series of forest fires burned 3 million acres in Idaho, Montana and Washington over two days in 1910, prompting a new firefighting era.
After those fires, which charred a region a bit smaller than Delaware, it became federal practice to stop the use of human-set fires to cull excess fuel. In 1935, the Forest Service set policy to extinguish all wildland fires the morning after detection. By 1944, the federal government had debuted Smokey Bear, whose catchphrase — “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires!” — underscored a suppression focus.
“We have a history of suppressing wildfires,” Cecilia Clavet, senior policy advisor at the Nature Conservancy, said. “Some of those wildfires are actually healthy for the ecosystem and help to create more wildfire-adapted landscapes.”
