On Thursday, November 7, you can participate in a live webcast celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Smokey Bear wildfire prevention campaign.
The live, interactive program starts Thursday morning at 11 at smokeybearlive.org, where you can also register for the event.
The webcast is originating from the Lincoln National Forest near Capitan, New Mexico and you may ask questions during the program, which will be answered by experts.
Larry Allen retired after many years of working for the U.S. Forest Service.
During that time, he says most fires were caused by lightening. Allen says prevention efforts were successful in reducing the number of human-caused fires.
“We were out there on the land talking to the people on those bad days. And I can remember rounding up everyone in the office and putting them in pickups and just drive around and just talk to people, offer your help, you know, friendly chat. That was a good prevention technique. Stuff like Smokey is aimed more at changing the attitudes. But on the day when the wind’s blowing, you need to be out there,” said Allen.