Front:
To my
Forest Fire
Preventin
Friend
Smokey
Back:
The True Story of Smokey Bear
One very dry spring day on the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico, somebody
was careless with a match, cigarette, or campfire. It took just one second of careless-
ness to start a terrible forest fire. Hundreds of fire fighters battled it. The flames
were hard to control. Twenty-four fire fighters nearly lost their lives when a strong
wind suddenly swept the forest fire toward them. They ran to a rock slide and lay
face down, keeping their faces covered with wet handkerchiefs. The fire raged all
around them. The smoke choked them. The heat was terrific.
Finally the fire passed and the smoke cleared. The only living thing those twenty-
four brave men saw was a badly burned little bear cub clinging to a blackened
tree. I was that bear cub. The men took me to a ranger station. Forest Service
rangers, veterinarians, and men from the New Mexico Game and Fish Department
tended my burns. Then they gave me a name: "Smokey" they called me, after
the poster bear. I was put on a plane and flown to the National Zoological Park.
Washington, D.C., where I became the living symbol of forest fire prevention. I
still live there and would like to have you visit me.
Preventing forest fires is a big job. As a Junior Forest Ranger, you can do a lot
to make sure folks are careful with their matches, smokes, and campfires when they
are in or near the forest.
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture-Forest Service
GPO 1974 O-529-283
