MD Davis

Happy 82nd Birthday to Smokey Bear! Smokey's dedication to raising awareness about fire safety has made a lasting impact on wildfire prevention. The historic photo shows the 14-year-old Smokey visiting Grand Canyon National Park in 1958, to celebrate the 1st day of issue of the U.S. Forest Conservation Postage Stamp. Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent at the time, John McLaughlin, is shown shaking paws with Smokey Bear. As much as we love Smokey, we do have to make one thing clear—Smokey does *NOT* work for the National Park Service. Instead, he's a proud employee of our friends at the US Forest Service and the Department of Agriculture, which helps to manage 154 National Forests, 20 National Grasslands, and 193 million acres of public lands in total. He's a very busy bear! Grand Canyon National Park has a close relationship with the US Forest Service. Kaibab National Forest borders the park to both its north and south, and the park works closely with the US Forest Service for fire prevention and containment. In addition, when Grand Canyon National Monument was established in 1908, in the absence of a National Park Service (Which wouldn't be established until 1916), it was the US Forest Service that was tasked with managing and protecting what would eventually become Grand Canyon National Park. Here's to many more years of inspiring us all to be better stewards of the land and protecting our public lands for future generations! #SmokeyBear #GrandCanyon #Arizona #GrandCanyonNationalPark #HappyBirthday