Celebrate Smokey Bear’s 75 birthday with the Forest Service

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The beloved icon of the United States Forest Service, Smokey Bear, will be turning 75 on August 9, 2019. To celebrate, USFS's Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will host two events in coordination with their partners at Great Basin Institute and Heavenly Mountain Resort.

The first one will be a birthday celebration at 1 p.m. on Friday, August 9, at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center. The celebration includes a meet and greet with Smokey Bear, photo ops, birthday cake, coloring station, storytime, Smokey Bear scavenger hunt and fire education information. The visitor center is located on Highway 89 N, approximately three miles northwest of the City of South Lake Tahoe. This event is free and open to all ages.

The party continues on Saturday, August 10, when a meet and greet celebration with Smokey Bear will take place at Heavenly Mountain Resort Gondola beginning at 11 a.m. Smokey will be available for photo ops at the bottom of the gondola and then will board the gondola and ride up to the mid-station. Smokey will arrive at the mid-station around noon for another photo op, before heading to the top of the gondola where he will be available for even more photo ops beginning roughly at 1 p.m. The Heavenly Gondola is located at the Heavenly Village, 4080 Lake Tahoe Blvd. South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150. This event is open to all ages and does require a gondola ticket if proceeding to the mid-station and top of the gondola.

Since 1944, Smokey Bear has worked to protect America’s forests from unwanted, human-caused wildfires. Smokey is one of the most-loved ambassadors of our time and his signature phrase, “Only you can prevent wildfires,” is truly iconic. Smokey’s message of wildfire prevention is the center of the longest-running PSA campaign in our nation’s history.

Happy 75th birthday Smokey Bear!