US experts show how to cut risk of wildfires

The Smokey Bear character was created in the US in the Forties to spread the message that forest fires cost money, harm wildlife and put the public at risk.

It is the longest-running public service campaign in American history and has dramatically reduced the number of fires.

Lew Southard, of the US Forest Service's fire and aviation management department, will speak at a conference in North Yorkshire.

The event, on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 5 and 6, is the first conference in the new £2.3m Dalby Forest visitor centre, near Pickering, which opened last month.

It will focus on the increasing risk of moorland and woodland fires because of rising global temperatures, and will be attended by countryside managers, Met Office officials, fire and rescue workers, emergency planning experts, estate owners, foresters, councils and national park officials.

During the severe drought of the mid-Seventies, a record number of wildfires broke out in the UK and, for a time, forests such as Dalby were closed to the public. In 2003, a blaze scorched nearly 3sq km of Fylingdales Moor.

Conference co-ordinator Martin Glynn said: "The key word in this conference is prevention and sharing experience from across the world.

"In Yorkshire, our moorland areas are perhaps the most vulnerable, given that many forests have been re-shaped to build in fire breaks.

"But even so, the moorland edge often comes right up to woodland boundaries, presenting an additional threat.

"We will be looking at what climate prediction models say about the possible increase in wildfires and what we can do about them."

Mick Hoban, regional development manager with the Forestry Commission, said: "At our recent climate change seminar in York, we were left in no doubt that more frequent summer droughts are on the way.

"We have to prepare for this scenario and minimise the threats to woods and other habitats, while allowing the public to enjoy the countryside."