Smokey Bear is top of mind in Bradenton

Retired ranger wants residents to think about Smokey Bear and fire prevention.

By Pam Eubanks
| 8:50 a.m. June 19, 2019

Andy Lee loves Smokey Bear. The mural outside Florida Forest Service Myakka River District's office on State Road 70 currently is modified to showcase Smokey Bear's 75th anniversary.

East County
News

After he fought wildfires with the Florida Forest Service for 38 years, Andy Lee’s passion for fire prevention hasn’t waned.

HISTORY OF SMOKEY BEAR

On Aug. 9, 1944, the creation of Smokey Bear was authorized by the Forest Service as part of an awareness campaign for preventing forest fires. The first poster was delivered on Oct. 10 by artist Albert Staehle and depicted a bear pouring a bucket of water on a campfire.

A real-life Smokey Bear came into the picture in 1950 when a bear cub was caught in a wildfire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico. Firefighters had spotted him and hoped he’d found his mother before being caught up by the blaze.

About 30 firefighters were caught directly in the path of the fire and survived by lying face down on a rock slide for more than an hour as the fire burned past them. Nearby, the cub had taken refuge in a tree that became charred. His paws and hind legs were badly burned.

The crew removed the cub from the tree, and a rancher among the crew took him home. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish learned of the cub and took him on a plane to Santa Fe, where his burns were treated.

News of the cub spread. The state game warden offered for the cub to go to the Forest Service as long as he was dedicated to a conservation and wildfire prevention publicity program. Named Smokey Bear, he went to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where he lived until he died in 1976.

He is buried at the SmokeyBear Historical Park in Capitan, New Mexico.

— smokeybear.com

His favorite character?

Smokey Bear, of course.

The East County resident has decades of memorabilia to prove it, of the original character designed by the U.S. Forest Service in 1944 and later of the cub rescued from a wildfire in New Mexico in 1950, who became the Forest Service’s mascot for future fire prevention campaigns.

Andy Lee makes the medallions from wood, stickers and stamps.

“Smokey Bear is an icon,” Lee said. “He is totally fire prevention.”

After starting his career in 1979 as a forest ranger, Lee, now 69, used to battle fires, often on a tractor. But he also did plenty of prevention education, which included him wearing Smokey costumes at events.

As a retiree, he has a different fire prevention strategy. From his home in Westwinds Village mobile home park, Lee crafts wooden Smokey Bear medallions, which he passes out at no charge to visitors at Jiggs Landing Preserve, where he’s a local fishing guide, or when he’s out in the community.

“I love to create,” Lee said. “I knew I wanted to make [Smokey Bear medallions] when I retired.”

That was two years ago.

75 years of Smokey contest

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Smokey Bear. The Myakka River District Office of the Florida Forest Service has organized “75 Days of Smokey,” which began May 15 and runs through July 29. Seventy-five items were hidden in more than 30 locations within district territory — Manatee, DeSoto, Hardee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties — for individuals to find.

The scavenger hunt is set up similar to geocaching, where participants use GPS coordinates and clues to find Smokey-related items. Hunters get to keep what they find if they take a selfie and share on Twitter, according to contest rules. The item then is removed from the scavenger hunt list.

Spokesman Patrick Mahoney said he updates the list of items remaining each week, so participants know what items can still be found. New locations are being added as well.

“It’s to get people back out to nature and to introduce them or reintroduce Smokey to them,” he said.

For details or to participate in the scavenger hunt, visit facebook.com/FFSMyakkaRiver. Winners will be announced Aug. 10 during Smokey Bear’s Birthday Bash at Myakka State Forest.

The process is simple, but Lee relishes it. He buys narrow, 8-foot-long pieces of wood and cuts them into 2-inch blocks. With wire cutters, he clips the edges, so they are smooth and then pulls out a green or red ink pad and two stamps, one with the word “Smokey” and another with “Says help prevent wildfires.” He stamps “Smokey” on the bottom of each medallion’s front, and he uses both stamps on the back.

The Forest Service supplies him with a roll of 250 stickers of Smokey’s face, and Lee’s wife, Darlene, helps by cutting off the white border around Smokey’s head and then placing the image on the front of the medallion, above Smokey’s name.

He adds a clear epoxy to protect the finishes, drills holes through the sides and adds a 3-foot-long string to complete the necklace.

The medallions then are ready for distribution.

“The time is a ball,” Lee said, noting he can make about 100 of the medallions in just two days. “Fire prevention is big. There always will be wildfires.”

Lee said he keeps a stash of them in his pocket whenever he goes out.

“They get the point across,” Lee said. “The kids love the picture. I get excited to be able to pass these out. These things are all over the world now. It’s important to me, and it’s fun.”