Smokey Bear was brought by the U.S. Forest Service from New Mexico in June of 1950 after being burned as a cub from a forest fire that swept through a portion of the Lincoln National Forest. Smokey Bear served as a living symbol of the Smokey Bear forest fire prevention program.

1944 Created in 1944, the Smokey Bear Wildfire Prevention campaign is the longest-running public service advertising campaign in U.S. history, educating generations of Americans about their role in preventing wildfires.

Smokey Bear's Explore Smokey Bear's History Since 1944, Smokey's been working hard to inspire Americans to prevent wildfires. Follow his history here through memorabilia and print, radio and TV messages.

Moreover, he carries no weapon to fight fires, or the people who cause them. Instead, he holds a shovel, which he often uses to pile dirt onto live coals, safely putting them out. Such a tool, and its associations with the responsible care of land, communicates the essence of Smokey's approach to wildfires.

Smokey Bear teaches people how to prevent human-caused wildfires and protect habitats. Children learn that forests, grasslands, and plains are homes to animals… create a Word/Picture Wall about these areas…

Smokey has black bear relatives who weigh as much as 800 pounds. Some of his grizzly bear cousins weigh almost a ton! WEIGHT AT BIRTH: About 1-1/2 pounds. In other words, he weighed about as much as a big loaf of bread.

As the Big Bear community is well aware, the Radford Fire began on the afternoon of September 5 in the Barton Flats area South of Big Bear Valley. The valiant efforts of firefighters during the first 36 hours of the initial attack were unrelenting and sustained.

Citation. Steve Nelson (words and music), Jack Rollins (words and music), and Rudy Wendelin (illustrations). 1952.

"Bears Discover Fire" is a science fiction short story by American science fiction author Terry Bisson. It concerns aging and evolution in the US South, the dream of wilderness, and community. The premise is that bears have discovered fire, and are having campfires on highway medians.

It's about the loss of family, community, and a connection to the wilderness. The characters stumble across bears that have discovered the “art” of sitting around a campfire together, while the people in their world have all but forgotten this.

Smokey Bear teaches people how to prevent human-caused wildfires and protect habitats. Children learn that forests, grasslands, and plains are homes to animals… create a Word/Picture Wall about these areas…

The moral of the story is: “Keep your calm even in times of trouble”. The friend who panicked forgot all about his other friend who could not climb a tree. But the friend who remained composed was able to find a simple way of saving himself from the bear.