NM History: Smokey Bear’s Birthday

Smokey Bear, not Smokey THE Bear, was born on August 9th, 1944, as a fictional character who would symbolize the US Forest Service and Ad Council’s joint effort to promote forest fire prevention.

Artist Albert Staehle was asked to paint the first poster of Smokey Bear. It depicted a bear pouring a bucket of water on a campfire and saying “Care will prevent 9 out of 10 fires.”

Smokey Bear soon became very popular as his image appeared on a variety of forest fire prevention materials.

In 1947, his slogan became the familiar “Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires!” that is still being used to this day.

Smokey Bear was just an iconic symbol representing forest fire prevention. That was until the spring of 1950 brought a fire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico.

A young bear cub found himself caught in that burning forest. He took refuge in a tree, and while managing to stay alive was left badly burned. The firefighters who retrieved him were so moved by his bravery, 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 in the State Historical Park.

This week, Smokey Bear, the iconic symbol for forest fire prevention, celebrates his 75th birthday.

Forests are amazing places covering almost a third of the Earth’s land, including over 700 million acres in the United States (that’s about 529 million football fields!) and are home to a huge variety of plants and animals, providing them with food, water and shelter.

Our forests are very valuable. Not only are they places of beauty and outdoor fun, we also rely on trees for fuel, food, raw materials and medicine.

Even more importantly, trees and plants in the forest make sure that the Earth’s temperature is livable and that we have enough oxygen to breathe.

In most recent years, 88% of the wildfires in the United States were caused by humans. That means 88% of those wildfires could and should have been prevented. 2018 alone brought 51,576 forest fires around the country caused by human error.

Smokey Bear and the forest fire prevention campaign he has represented over the many years has been successful in stifling forest fires. With 195,427 wildfires in 1940, and only 58,083 recorded in 2018, the decline is worth noticing. However, that is still 8 million acres of beautiful land that burned in the last year, with the majority percent being caused by human err.

So, as Smokey has always said, only YOU can prevent forest fires. So, please, as you finish out your summer with last minute camping trips or visits to the lake, be sure to put out your fire completely!

To help you protect our beautiful land, remember Smokey’s Five Rules of Wildfire Prevention:

1. Only you can prevent wildfires

2. Always be careful with fire

3. Never play with matches or lighters

4. Always watch your campfire

5. Make sure your campfire is completely out before leaving it

Did you know?

It’s Smokey Bear, not Smokey the Bear. “The” was added when songwriters penned Smokey’s tune. It helped with the rhythm of the song. It’s the only time Smokey Bear ever has a middle name.

Disney loaned Bambi to the Ad Council for one year for their fire prevention effort prior to Smokey Bear.

The Forest Service and War Advertising Council introduced a bear as the fire prevention campaign symbol. Illustrator Albert Staehle drew the first Smokey Bear. Two years later, Forest Service artist Rudy Wendelin.