Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl poster contest winners: 80th birthday edition

October 3, 2024

A kid holding a framed picture in front of him and smiling — Aiden Finkelstein, national grand prize winner for the Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl Poster Contest – Smokey’s 80th edition. (USDA Forest Service photo by Dominic Cumberland)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The recognition ceremony to honor the national grand prize winner of the 2024 Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl poster contest Smokey Bear's 80th Birthday Edition took place in Washington, DC, on Sept. 12, 2024. This year's grand prize winner was Aiken Finkelstein, an 11-year-old fourth student from Pearl, Miss.

Finkelstein 's poster, a powerful visual representation of our responsibility to prevent wildfires, serves as a compelling inspiration for all of us, especially when we are out in the open, enjoying our forests and grasslands. His work not only underscores the significance of good environmental practices but also ignites a sense of responsibility in us while exploring the great outdoors.

Finkelstein shows unusual promise as a visual artist with his expression in colored pencils on paper, which features an image of Smokey Bear holding a firefighter coat with the number 80th. At the same time, he sees a few animals running out of a burning forest and going to a safe area. Open houses dripping water and smoke clouds were drawn with Smokey's slogan only you can prevent wildfires.

His poster captivated over 2,000 Forest Service employees out of 4,000 who voted this year. Thanks to the poster contest, Finkelstein not only learned about Smokey and what he stands for, but also gained a deeper understanding of the importance of wildfire prevention. This is precisely the purpose of the poster contest, carried out in partnership with the National Garden Clubs, Inc. with the aim of connecting children to our icon's messages and our land, and encouraging children to continue observing those practices.

This year, our esteemed partner, the National Garden Clubs, reached out to over 11,600 children; we received 2,055 posters with five national winners were selected from those submissions. The poster contest, a testament to the enduring success of the partnership between the Forest Service and the National Garden Clubs Inc., continues to be one of the most successful initiatives the agency has undertaken. The Forest Service and the National Garden Clubs Inc. have been in partnership for the last 64 years, a partnership the agency is proud of and the reassurances for a brighter future for our environment. The National Garden Clubs Inc. is the largest volunteer organization in the United States.