Smokey Bear
National Smokey Bear Feature Stories
Smokey Bear’s 80th Birthday
April 10, 2024 – The White House, Presidents and Our First Bear
January 29, 2024 – Sage, Zip Ties and Smokey Bear
December 14, 2023 – Coming up in 2024: Smokey Bear turns 80
November 29, 2023 – Behind the Ballon
October 11, 2023 – Only You
August 9, 2023 – The Legends of a Man and a Bear
Other Years
November 2020 -- When Bears Fly
75th Birthday
Five diamonds for Smokey Bear’s 75th birthday with more fun to come
The once ‘living’ Smokey Bear is remembered at the National Zoo
Smokey Bear’s message of Only You Can Prevent Wildfires is about you being responsible and not starting unwanted and accidental fires and should not be conflated with wildfire management practices both past and present.
The Smokey Bear Wildfire Prevention Campaign, created in 1944, informs people of all ages about their role in preventing wildfires.
Smokey Bear promote good behaviors that help prevent unwanted wildfires.
Smokey Bear Taglines
Help Prevent Unwanted Wildfires
Remember. . .Only YOU Can Prevent Wildfires
Don’t Play with Matches
Drown Your Campfires
Help Smokey Prevent Wildfires
Smokey’s Friends Don’t Play with Matches
9 Out of 10 Wildfires Are Caused by People
Remember...Only YOU can prevent wildfires
Wildfire prevention is everyone's responsibility.
Over the past 20 years, we saw an average 15% decline in human-caused wildfires.
Every preventable human-caused wildfire saves lives and property.
Everyone has the responsibility to prevent unwanted human-caused ignitions.
Smokey's message is more relevant than ever before as we face a national wildfire crisis.
The main causes of human-related wildfires are campfires left unattended, debris burning on windy days, careless discarding of smoking materials, hot ashes and BBQ coals, and operating equipment that throws sparks.
It’s always wildfire season somewhere in the U.S., and every region of the U.S. experiences wildfires.
Prescribed fires play a critical role in some ecosystems. These fires are planned and executed by professionals. Smokey’s unique and essential role is singularly focused on preventing unwanted, human-caused wildfires by educating the public and encouraging them to be responsible.
There are many ways to prevent wildfires
Fire Restrictions
Fire restrictions tell us to avoid certain activities during extreme fire risks and hazards. Fire restrictions have various levels called stages. The threshold of each stage varies between agencies.
Know before you go. Check the website of the national forest or grassland you plan to visit for any fire restrictions or warnings; the national fire outlook for predicted wildfire activity, which is updated monthly; national fire news and incident updates, which gives information updated daily on live fires.
Camping/Campfires
If campfires are allowed, keep them small, use a designated fire pit or ring, and remove flammable vegetation from the area.
Never leave any campfire unattended.
Clear flammable vegetation away from your campfire area. Use a designated or safe preexisting campfire ring when possible.
Keep it small. Your campfires should be only as large as necessary for cooking or personal warmth.
Be prepared. Have the proper tools to extinguish a campfire before you light it. Bring a bucket, water and shovel to drown and stir the campfire until it is entirely out.
To completely extinguish your campfire, drown the fire with water, stir with your shovel, soak again and feel for any heat using the back of your hand. Continue this process until no heat remains. Make sure your campfire is cold to the touch before leaving the area. If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave.
Recreational Sport Shooting
Temperatures of bullet fragments can exceed 800°C, or 1472°F. Though the metallic fragments from a fired bullet may cool fast, they still can easily ignite nearby dry vegetation.
Shoot only in designated areas and adhere to local regulations.
Set up targets in designated areas clear of vegetation that could easily ignite from heated bullet fragments.
Explosives, steel core/jacketed ammunition, armor piercing, tracer bullets and incendiary ammunition are prohibited on public lands.
Be prepared to extinguish any fires that may accidentally occur by having a fire extinguisher, shovel and water readily available.
Vehicles and Equipment
Equip your vehicle with a fire extinguisher and the proper and functioning spark arrester.
Correctly connect chains when you visit lands with any trailer. Dragging chains can quickly spark a wildfire.
Avoid parking on dry grass. The heat from your undercarriage and exhaust pipe can cause accidental ignition.
Welding outdoors? Clear away flammable vegetation from dry grass and other vegetation.
Smokey Bear accounts
Hashtags
#SmokeyBear
#OnlyYou
#PreventWildfires
Unique 80th Birthday Hashtag: #SingForSmokey
Partners
Additional Resources
Download the Smokey Bear Guidelines (PDF, 160 KB)
Smokey Bear Website (English)
Smokey Bear Website (Spanish)
National Garden Clubs Smokey Bear & Woodsy Owl Poster Contest
The image and likeness of Smokey Bear is a Congressional trademark protected by federal law and is not in the public domain. The USDA Forest Service administers Smokey Bear along with the National Association of State Foresters and the Advertising Council. Report unauthorized or questionable uses of Smokey Bear to info@perpetuallicensing.com.
Smokey Bear is at the heart of American history's longest-running public service campaign. About 75% of young outdoor recreationists familiar with Smokey Bear think of him as a role model for children.
In 1952, Congress passed the Smokey Bear Act to preserve his legacy.
The U.S. Postal Service honored Smokey with a postage stamp in 1984.
Smokey Bear has only one of two personalized zip codes - 20252. The other customized zip code is for the U.S. President.
Smokey Bear messages have received more than $1.6 billion of donated media support.
The historic campaign is honored on the Advertising Walk of Fame for being “America’s Favorite Advertising Icon.”
On May 15, 2012, Smokey traveled aboard the Soyuz spacecraft with American astronaut Joe Acaba and cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin to the International Space Station. Acaba and his station crewmates recorded high-resolution video and photographs on June 28, 2012, of wildfires in Colorado and Utah.
Over the years, Smokey Bear has become a pop icon:
Authorized licensees use his image for a wide range of merchandise for children and adults.
Smokey Bear is often a trivia question on many game shows.
Smokey Bear has memorialized in song, which also helps to confuse his real name. It's Smokey Bear, not Smokey the Bear, as the song lyrics suggest.
His signature phrase, “Only you can prevent wildfires,” is part of the American lexicon.
His style is so recognizable that many believed, perhaps wrongly so, Pharrell Williams, an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and fashion designer, mimicked Smokey's style while wearing a Vivienne Westwood-designed felt mountain hat.
Smokey has more than 360,000 followers on Facebook, far below Barbie's 15 million followers. Then again, Smokey has but one outfit.