Bambi and wildfire, 1942 and 1964

The 1942 movie Bambi (see the fire scene above) and a 1964 public service announcement featuring Smokey Bear and Bambi (below), influenced a couple of generations, making it difficult for the public to think of fire in the forest as anything other than a terrible menace that to be defeated, prevented, or immediately suppressed at any cost. The struggle to accept prescribed fire as a legitimate forest management practice continues to this day.