October 2nd, 1973 — BC Forest Service Ranger Gordon Hawkey walks through a controlled slash burn near Tofino on Vancouver Island. When this picture ran in the Vancouver Province and Sun (I had the privilege of working for both newspapers on this story) the public relations departments of the forestry service and BC Forest Products received unbelievable flack from their superiors. They were trying to put across the idea that slash burning actually decreases the chance of forest fires but the image of black trees as far as the eye could see did not help their cause.