Where is smokey the bear from

In , when a black bear cub was rescued from a burning forest in New Mexico, he was named Smokey and sent to Washington, D.

Today, the Ad Council estimates that 96 percent of adults recognize him—the sort of ratings usually reserved for Mickey Mouse and the president. Between the s and s, the average number of annual wildfires in the United States decreased by over 40, By , the average number of acres burned by wildfire each year had dropped from 22 million in to just 6.

Where the changing climate has brought drier conditions, this land is primed to spark easily. Now, a catastrophic blaze, once an unusual occurrence, could be set off by the heat from a lightning strike. His remains are flown back to near where he was found in New Mexico. More than people attend his memorial service. Two days after the funeral, an obituary runs on Page 1 of the Wall Street Journal.

The park includes a museum. While both Smokey and Smokey II have died, the character lives on. Recent ads feature Smokey seeking out people who exhibit safe behavior and rewarding them with — what else?

Sources: The Ad Council, U. Department of Agriculture, U. Search Search Text Search Close. Facebook Twitter Close. Search Text Search Close. Judy Bell helped her mother take care of Smokey. Orphaned black bear cub "Smokey II" was the second live representation of Smokey Bear from to his death in He's peering shyly up from under a campaign hat as he pours a bucket of water over a campfire.

But many will forever associate the cartoon with a real bear cub. Its paws and belly were singed in a spring wildfire. It is in South Florida. The book's author is Karen Signell. She met Smokey when he was a cub. The bear was living at the National Zoo in Washington. The cub had been rescued by a game warden, Ray Bell. He had been fighting a fire in New Mexico's Capitan Mountains.

Don Bell was 15 when his father came home with the five-pound bear. The Sun Sentinel's Brittany Shammas reports: "The Bell family was constantly taking in wild animals, so Don Bell didn't think much of the 'cute little guy' who slept in a rabbit cage on the back porch.

But the story of the rescued cub would become a national phenomenon.