Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear is a mascot of the United States Forest Service created in 1944 to educate the public on the dangers of forest fires. Initially the Forest Service used Bambi, from the Walt Disney film, on its posters, but Bambi was only loaned to them by Disney for one year, so a new animal mascot had to be created. The bear's first poster was prepared on August 9, 1944. In 1952, after Smokey Bear became popular enough to attract commercial interest, an Act of Congress was passed to take Smokey out of the public domain and place him under the control of the Secretary of Agriculture. The Act provided for the use of Smokey's royalties for continued education on forest fire prevention.
It is the longest running public-service campaign in US history. Smokey Bear has the famous catchphrase "Only you can prevent forest fires." During his heyday Smokey received so much fan mail that he was assigned his own ZIP Code, 20252.
The cartoon version of Smokey originated based on an actual black bear cub who in the spring of 1950 was caught in a wildfire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico. He had climbed a tree to escape the blaze, but his paws and hind legs had been burned. At first he was called "Hotfoot Teddy" and only later acquired the name "Smokey". A local rancher who had been helping fight the fire took the cub home with him, but he needed veterinary aid so a New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Ranger took the bear to Santa Fe. He became a media celebrity and was sent to the National Zoo in Washington, DC.
The emblem has become less used in recent years, because it came into existence at a time in which the forest service believed that all forest fires were detrimental and unnatural, a view that few hold today. Smokey is still used as an emblem because, although the orthodoxy is now that forest fires are an essential part of the ecosystem, it is desired that forest fires be planned and controlled.
See also
