Animal Folk Figure. In 1950, a huge forest fire in Lincoln National Forest, near Capitan, New Mexico, severely burned a four-month-old black bear cub. After his rescue, a district game warden took him to Santa Fe, where he was nursed back to health. He was made a living symbol of the United States Forest Service's five-year-old fire prevention program, and the bear was dubbed with the nickname "Smokey." As Director of Information and Education of the United States Forest Service, Henry "Hank" De Bruin was responsible for the Smokey Bear program. The promotion was a profitable venture as the Forest Service was the recipient of more than one million dollars in royalties on products bearing the bear's name, and so much mail was addressed to "Smokey" that it necessitated his own zip code. Smokey was transferred to Washington, DC, and was placed in the National Zoo where he was seen by millions. In May 1975, the bear, crippled by age, was placed in a private cage where he died in his sleep at age twenty-six. The forest service flew the body to New Mexico for interment in the National Forest where he was found.
Animal Folk Figure. In 1950, a huge forest fire in Lincoln National Forest, near Capitan, New Mexico, severely burned a four-month-old black bear cub. After his rescue, a district game warden took him to Santa Fe, where he was nursed back to health. He was made a living symbol of the United States Forest Service's five-year-old fire prevention program, and the bear was dubbed with the nickname "Smokey." As Director of Information and Education of the United States Forest Service, Henry "Hank" De Bruin was responsible for the Smokey Bear program. The promotion was a profitable venture as the Forest Service was the recipient of more than one million dollars in royalties on products bearing the bear's name, and so much mail was addressed to "Smokey" that it necessitated his own zip code. Smokey was transferred to Washington, DC, and was placed in the National Zoo where he was seen by millions. In May 1975, the bear, crippled by age, was placed in a private cage where he died in his sleep at age twenty-six. The forest service flew the body to New Mexico for interment in the National Forest where he was found.
Bio by: Donald Greyfield
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Smokey Bear
This is the resting place of the first living Smokey Bear. In 1950 when Smokey was a tiny cub, wildfire burned his forest home in the nearby Capitan Mountains of the Lincoln National Forest. Firefighters found the badly burned cub clinging to a blackened tree and saved his life. In June 1950, the cub was flown to our nation's Capitol to become the living symbol of wildfire prevention and wildlife conservation. After 25 years, he was replaced by another orphaned black bear from the Lincoln National Forest.
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