Smokey Bear's 80th Birthday

For the last eight decades, Smokey Bear has taught generations of people how to prevent wildfires. This August, Smokey celebrated his 80^th birthday, and to honor the occasion, the National Forests in North Carolina and partners across the state hosted special events to celebrate this milestone celebration.

In Burnsville, North Carolina, children gathered at the Yancey County Library to hear the story of the real Smokey Bear and learned about wildland fire and the benefits of fire to the landscape. Rangers from the Appalachian Ranger District were also on hand to talk about careers in forestry. There was even a National Forests in North Carolina wildland fire engine for the children to see.  

Heading east to the Uwaharrie National Forest, Smokey attended a celebration in partnership with the North Carolina Forest Service at the Sanford Library. Sanford Mayor Rebecca Wyhof Salmon was on hand for the official cake cutting. Later, the public was also invited to a birthday party with cake and wildfire prevention education at the Uwharrie Ranger Station’s new annex.

Smokey then made his way back to the Pisgah National Forest to the Pisgah Ranger District for a big event hosted by FIND Outdoors at the Cradle of Forestry. Party guest participated in games and activities, including safe campfire training, an obstacle course to save Smokey’s woodland friends, and making Smokey masks. Forest Service employees demonstrated how they work to manage a wildfire and let people try their hand putting out a pretend fire. Of course, no birthday party is complete without cake and a visit from the Birthday Bear himself.   

The legend of Smokey Bear dates back to his first poster appearance in August of 1942 as part of a new wildfire prevention campaign by the Forest Service. In 1950, a bear cub was rescued from a wildfire in New Mexico. After recovering from his burns, the bear cub was flown to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and became the living symbol of Smokey Bear.

From the beginning Smokey has had a simple message that everyone plays a role in wildfire prevention with his famous quote, “Only You can Prevent Wildfires”. Smokey has taught the importance of putting out your campfire and to be cautious with matches and other sources of wildfire ignition such as dragging chains on a trailer or a discarded lit cigarette.

To learn more about Smokey's 80 years of preventing wildfires visit www.smokeybearbirthday.org and his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/smokeybear.

Article and photos by Lucy Swaffield