Happy Birthday, Smokey Bear! Forest Firefighting Symbol Turns 70

With what seems like the entire western forests going up in flames this summer, it only seems appropriate to celebrate a Bear's Birthday. Smokey Bear, a symbol for generations of Americans of the dangers of forest fires and the star of the longest-running public service ad campaign in U.S. history, celebrated his 70th birthday. The importance of Smokey Bear, famed for his motto "only you can prevent forest fires," is greater than ever today because of longer and more intense wildfire seasons, U.S. Forest Service chief Thomas Tidwell told a birthday celebration. ""It's more important than ever for us to find every way possible to reduce the number of accidental fires that occur on our landscape every year,” Makes me think that "only you can prevent forest fires" is even more true today than it was 70 years ago. http://nr.news-republic.com/Web/ArticleWeb.aspx?regionid=1&articleid=27124088&m=d