Smokey Bear | Forest Fires



I watched multiple fires this summer, from a distance, and then closer; while I was camping in several different Forest Service Campgrounds.  After seeing the hard work and lots of tax dollars that go into fighting these fires, I started talking to people who agreed that Smokey is not as well publicized today as he has been in the past.  Other people agreed that they hadn't seen much of anything about him in years. 

However, he does have a new website,  https://www.smokeybear.com/, published just this year, from which I borrowed the above photo.  I have a feeling that after this summer, he will have more of a presence than he has in years past.   This year, I saw some photos of firefighters carrying out a cub from the fires, which is how Smokey Bear, and his message, got started decades ago.  I hope that the message will continue with more publicity. 

At one of the Forest Service campgrounds I stayed at, the camp hosts had these little bracelets labeled "Smokey's Friend", a good reminder to be careful!

  

  

She also had comic books about Smokey and fires, which had apparently been reprinted from years gone by. 

  

Although he still does not have the presence that he used to, I'm hoping that more people will become aware of the danger and destruction by forest fires. 

Remember - "Only YOU can prevent forest fires"

Smokey The Bear | Capitan | New Mexico

In light of the fires in the Northwest, I thought it was timely that I should find the Smokey Bear Park.  I guess some of us need reminders of what can happen with a campfire.  I have seen people go in their RVs after an evening campfire and leave the fire either in flames or smoldering.  One night, a campfire was left by my neighbor - I had to go out there and dump water on it so that I could feel safe going to sleep.

This is a little pond in the park, with signs that remind us that little creatures who live in or near ponds, streams or lakes need protection too.  This could include frogs, lizards, raccoons, turtles, birds and others, as well as plants in the areas.

Trees are obviously what is on our minds when the fires are raging.  It also destroys animals in the area, as well as destroying their habitat.

Back in the middle of last century, there was a fire raging in the Capitan area.  Some of the firefighters found a little bear cub clinging to a burning tree.  That cub was rescued, treated for his burns and was named "Smokey".  After he recovered from his wounds, he lived in the Washington, DC zoo until he died at the age of 26, which is considered a long lifespan for bears.  Since he had been the mascot for the fire safety campaign, he was brought home to Capitan and buried here in the park.  The photo below shows the gravesite.

This is the carving that is near his grave, you can see it in the photo above, but the light wasn't good enough to get the gravesite and this carving in one shot.

We are all familiar with Smokey's posters, ads and messages, as well as the figure below.  The museum has all sorts of vintage posters of reminders to put out your campfires completely, as well as other fire safety posters.

There were all sorts of plants and trees around the park, reminders that they would all be consumed by a careless fire.

I went back into my photos to find this Smokey hot air balloon that was in the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta about 2 years ago.  He still makes appearances in lots of the balloon gatherings.

On a lighter note, Capitan has a great store that was unfortunately closed when I was there.

I was wishing they had been open, it would have been fun to see what they had inside.

Forest Fires | Grand Canyon | north rim | Arizona

Controlled burns in forests are often necessary to consume the accumulated debris from trees, which sometimes reduces wildfires.

In 2006 thousands of acres of Ponderosa pines burned near the road leading to the Grand Canyon, 2% of the area was hot enough to kill pine stands. 

 Since Aspen trees grow from roots, unlike most trees, they will get more sun after these burns and will produce more trees. There are hundreds of small Aspen growing in the area of this burn. When they get tall enough, they may provide shade for conifers to grow. 

 

There was a recent large burn near the north rim of the Grand Canyon, reported to have been started by lightning, as it had been in monsoon season. Over 14,000 acres were involved and fire crews tended to the fire, but allowed it to burn in controlled areas. I'm hoping that the controlled and managed burns lessen the impact on the animals in the area.

 

　

 

 

Shortly after the area in the Grand Canyon was opened to tourists again, I drove one of the roads that was quite involved. I could actually smell the burned area and noticed that small portions of the road had been scorched.

This is one way of getting rid of accumulated debris in forest.  These will be burned during the dry season.

This last photo shows how they thin out trees that have grown too close together, they leave the taller, healthier trees.  This tree cutting also adds to the piles that will be burned in the future.

 

This photo shows Aspens with pine trees in the background.

I have noticed that Aspens grow sometimes in tight groupings, as shown above and in the photo below.  I imagine the reason is that they grow from their roots, rather than seeds.