Which bear is the official mascot of the U.S. Forest Service?

Smokey Bear is the official mascot of the U.S. Forest Service. The character was created for the American wildfire-prevention campaign and became the public face of warnings about careless, human-caused fires.

The Forest Service authorized Smokey’s creation on August 9, 1944, after the agency needed a new symbol when Walt Disney’s Bambi was available for government use only temporarily. Artist Harry Rossoll developed the bear, whose name referenced “Smokey” Joe Martin, a New York firefighter badly injured during a 1922 rescue.

Smokey later gained a real-life counterpart. In 1950, a badly burned American black bear cub was rescued after the Capitan Gap fire in New Mexico. The cub became Smokey’s living symbol and was eventually housed at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

People often say “Smokey the Bear,” but the official name is Smokey Bear. Yogi Bear and Fozzie Bear are entertainment characters, while Smokey’s role is public education and wildfire prevention.