Smoke THIS Shit

In kindergarten & elementary school, there was nothing more exciting that when you'd be caviled to an assembly…your feet would dangle above the floor as you sat in those fold-up stadium seats built during the 1930s (probably) and then VOILA!…onstage would walk Smokey the Bear. You know, a six-foot tall bear wearing a hat and dungarees. Of course. You'd get a big speech about how only us could prevent forest fires, and more importantly you got a plastic bag with, among other things I can't remember, an incredibly flammable wooden ruler. Of course. Together, with this bear dressed as what I would now say to be a male stripper ("does SOMEone need a hose?"), you were gonna save the planet from burning to death.

ANYhoo, seems that Smokey is, in fact, single-handedly destroying the Earth. Thanks a lot, fuckface.

Smokey Bear was created by the U.S. Forest Service in an attempt to prevent forest fires — and it worked too well. By preventing the small fires that are part of how forests function (clearing out underbrush and small trees), the “Smokey Bear Effect” is causing massive, forest-destroying fires that eradicate large forests. In this short video, NPR explores the effect — and how we must accept small fires as an integral part of the life of forests.
Representative quote: “For a hundred years, we’ve been very good at suppressing [forest fires]. And now, we’re reaping that fiery maelstrom — we have fires now we can’t stop! And they’re going to continue to burn…until there isn’t a whole lot left to burn.” -William Armstrong, Fire Manager, U.S. Forest Service. Even Smokey Bear himself agrees — total fire suppression is a recipe for disaster, and small fires “clean” the forest. Check it out:

How the Smokey the Bear Effect Led to Today's Raging Wildfires from NPR on Vimeo.