1-nationalinteragencyfirecenter（14页）.docVIP

HISTORY The guardian of our forest has been a part of the American scene for so many years it is hard for most of us to remember when he first appeared. Dressed in a rangers hat, belted blue jeans and carrying a shovel, he has been the recognized forest fire prevention symbol for 45 years. Today, Smokey Bear is a highly recognized advertising symbol and is protected by Federal law. (PL 82-359, as amended by PL 92-318). He even has his own private zip code. To understand how Smokey Bear became associated with forest fire prevention, we must go back to World War II. On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor. The following spring, in 1942, a Japanese submarine surfaced near the coast of Southern California and fired a salvo of shells that exploded on an oil field near Santa Barbara, very close to the Los Padres National Forest. Americans throughout the country were shocked by the news the war had now been brought directly to the American mainland. There was also fear that the enemy incendiary shells, exploding in the timber stands off the Pacific Coast, could easily set off numerous raging forest fires in addition to those already being caused by people. Protection of these forests from uncontrolled fire became a matter of national importance, and a new idea was born. If people could be urged to be more careful, perhaps some of the fires could be prevented. Forest fires caused by people were nothing new. For many years, the Nation had known that forest fires presented a serious threat. As early as 1902, there was a standard General Land Office forest fire warning poster that gave some guidelines for keeping fires under control. In 1939, a poster showing a forest ranger who looked like Uncle Sam pointing to a raging forest fire stated Your Forest-Your Fault-Your Loss. Statistics showed that nine out of ten of the fires were person-caused and, thus, prevent- able. With this in mind, in 1939 the Forest Service organized the Cooperati