Many of you may know the story of Smokey Bear, but we’d like to take a little bit of time to post Smokey’s story during prevention week because let’s face it – Smokey is THE prevention icon. So, without further ado, right from Smokey’s website, his story:
“Smokey Bear was born on August 9, 1944, when the USDA
Forest Service and the Ad Council agreed that a fictional bear named Smokey
would be their symbol for forest fire prevention.
Artist Albert Staehle was asked to paint the first poster of Smokey Bear. It
showed Smokey pouring a bucket of water on a campfire and saying, “Care will
prevent 9 out of 10 fires.” Smokey Bear soon became very popular, and his image
appeared on a lot of forest fire prevention materials. In 1947 his slogan
became the familiar “Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires!”, which was later
updated to be “Only YOU Can Prevent Wildfires!”
Then in the spring of 1950, in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico, a young bear cub found himself caught in a burning forest. He climbed a tree to survive, but he was still badly burned. The firefighters who retrieved him were so moved by his bravery, that they named him Smokey.
News about this real bear named Smokey spread across the nation, and he was soon given a new home at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. As the living symbol of Smokey Bear, he played an important role in spreading messages of wildfire prevention and forest conservation. Smokey died in 1976 and was returned to Capitan, New Mexico, where he is buried at the State Historical Park, now called Smokey Bear Historical Park.”
Even though Smokey has brown fur in all his portrayals, he
is in fact a black bear weighing over 300 pounds. When he was born, he only
weighed about as much as a loaf of bread (1.5 pounds). He’s even been to outer space.
Did you know that you can write Smokey a letter? He even has
his own zip code! Here’s his address:
Smokey Bear
Washington, D.C. 20252
He also has a Twitter (X) handle: @smokey_bear
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