Smokey Bear
22 Jun
A few Smokey Bear facts:
1) The living symbol of Smokey Bear, the United States Forest Service mascot, was a black bear that was caught in the Capitan Gap fire, a wildfire that burned 17, 000 acres in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico in 1950. The bear climbed a tree to escape the fire, but his paws and legs were burned when he was found and rescued.
2) “Smokey The Bear” or “Smokey Bear?” Smokey Bear. The “the” was added in 1952 by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins while writing the bear’s anthem. In order to maintain the correct rhythm, they needed to add the extra syllable.
3) The Smokey Bear campaign is the longest running public service campaign in history.
4) In April 2001, Smokey’s message was updated to “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires.”
And now you know.
Read: Smokey’s Wikipedia
Look: Smokey’s Poster Archive
A few Smokey Bear PSAs after the jump…
My husband and I were wondering how the latest little bear found in a fire is doing? We grew up learning about Smokeybear and his fight to save our forests and camp grounds. We like the old “only you can prevent forrests fires” ads that he did when he first started fighting these terrible fires.
this stuff is awesome! i love smokey the bear!!!!!!!!!!!