Smokey’s mission and history

Mission

To create and maintain a public awareness about wild fire prevention.

History

Dressed in a ranger's hat, belted blue jeans and carrying a shovel, Smokey Bear has been the recognized wildfire prevention symbol since 1944.  Smokey Bear is a highly recognized advertising symbol and is protected by Federal law (PL 82-359, as amended by PL 92-318).  He even has his own private zip code-20052.

Here is a summary of Smokey’s history:  In the 1950s, a bear cub found himself in a forest surrounded by flames.  To escape the fire burning around him, he climbed up in a tree.  By the time the fire fighters found the scared and hungry cub, the forest was charred and blackened.

The firefighters, park forest rangers and the warden were so moved by the bravery of this little cub that they named him Smokey.  They put him on a plane and sent him to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. to live.

In the town of Capitan, New Mexico near where this brave bear had been found, people erected a museum to honor him.  The museum still exists today.