Buzzfeed News tried to show it was smarter than everyone when it comes to forest fires and the well-known mascot for preventing them, Smokey the Bear, by claiming the spokesbear’s campaign was actually bad for California.
Buzzfeed’s since-deleted tweet claimed Smokey advocated for wildfire suppression.
“Most experts now agree that a decades-long policy of suppressing fires in forests, a campaign fronted by Smokey Bear, was a bad idea,” the tweet said. “At best, it damaged ecosystems that need to burn from time to time. At worst, it created a tinderbox of unnaturally dense vegetation.”
The problem here is that Smokey the Bear didn’t advocate for wildfire suppression. He advocated for wildfire prevention, as evidenced by his wildly known catchphrase, “Only you can prevent forest fires.”
The Buzzfeed tweet was part of a thread discussing the recent forest fires in California. After deleting the tweet, Buzzfeed put up an explanation.- READ MORE