On this day in history – August 9, 1944 – Smoky the Bear made his debut appearance. The first poster featuring the iconic jeans wearing bear was illustrated by Albert Staehle. In it Smokey sports both his modest (yet durable) pants choice as well as the well recognized campaign hat that is still worn by National Park Service personnel to this day. He is show pouring a bucket of water on a campfire, with a message below the image reading, “Smoky says – Care will prevent 9 out of 10 forest fires!”
In 1996 Congress authorized national forests through the Federal Lands Recreation Act (REA) to enact recreation fees that would generate revenue which would be funneled directly into forest maintenance plans. As the federal budget has continued to hack and slash at service for America (yet, oddly continues to provide billions in aid to people who don’t like us) the U.S. Forest Service has been sorely pressed to come up with funding to make investments to infrastructure and do necessary repairs – especially to those forests that butt up against urban areas and which see heavy traffic.
