Only You

80 years ago this Saturday, Smokey Bear was created. He is the longest-lasting public service advertising image and one of the most well-known icons of America. But how did this come about?

During World War II, the Japanese attempted to attack the west coast by starting fires. In addition, the Forest Service, which had been fighting wildfires before the war, felt that with so few men at home, people needed to know that they could help protect America by following safe fire practices. 

The first image of Smokey was drawn by and donated by American animal cartoonist Albert Staehle. Staehle created many other animal cartoons, but his image of Smokey pouring a bucket of water on a fire is his most well-known and he never earned any money from it. Instead, after the image of Smokey Bear was removed from the public domain in 1952 with the Smokey Bear Act, all money made from the image is donated to fire education. 

Today, Smokey's message has shifted because forest ecologists feel that his message was giving fires a bad name. Some types of tree seeds require fire in order to be released, and at other times, preventing fires results in a dangerous buildup of leaves and other detritus on the forest floor. Controlled, prescribed fires are good for the forest ecosystem, so now Smokey' message indicates that out-of-control wildfires, not all forest fires, are dangerous and that citizens should be sure that their camp fire is actually put out.