The Red Rock Ranger District Visitors Center south of the Village of Oak Creek will celebrate the 75th birthday of Smokey Bear Saturday, Aug. 10.
Smokey Bear was created in August 1944 to promote awareness of human-caused wildfires and is the longest running public service ad campaign in U.S. history, according to the Ad Council. His character is so popular that he is protected by federal law as an advertising symbol and even has his own private ZIP code, 20252.
Many may remember seeing commercials with Smokey Bear warning Americans “Only you can prevent forest fires.”
U.S. Forest Service statistics showed that nine out of 10 forest fires were human-caused and thus, preventable. There was a real Smokey Bear: A tiny 3-month-old American black bear cub found stranded after a wildfire roared through a portion of forest in the Capitan Mountains of south-central New Mexico in 1950.
Firefighters found the tiny bear clinging to a charred tree and it was rescued by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
After the story of the cub became a national one, conservationists had an interest in the little bear. To promoting wildfire prevention, the cub was placed at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., as a living symbol.
For years he appeared in media and television ads as Smokey Bear until his death in 1976. The bear now rests at Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan, N.M., where he had been rescued years before. The Red Rock Ranger District Visitor Center’s birthday party has been in the works for months.
“We started planning the 75th birthday early last year, so we can make it a bigger event than usual,” said Tori Marshall, Ranger District education and interpretive coordinator.
There will be something for everyone at the party, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We’ll have a birthday cake and snow cones. There will be a lot of activities for kids, arts and crafts, games, some trivia because there is quite a bit of trivia about Smokey,” Marshall said. “We’ll have a 1940s fire truck and a new Forest Service fire engine — if it’s not up on the fire lines.” You can get your picture with Smokey Bear, who will appear in person for the party. Despite his advancing age, the Forest Service says Smokey’s message is as relevant and as urgent today as it was in 1944.
The Red Rock Ranger District Visitors Center is located at 8375 SR 179, just south of the Village of Oak Creek.
