Bill Text: TX SR474 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing the Smokey Bear Wildfire Prevention campaign on the occasion of its 75th anniversary.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Passed) 2019-03-25 - Reported enrolled [SR474 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SR474-Enrolled.html
|
|
||
| WHEREAS, The Smokey Bear Wildfire Prevention campaign is | ||
| celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2019, providing a fitting | ||
| occasion to pay tribute to its success in educating generations | ||
| of Americans in the prevention of wildfires; and | ||
| WHEREAS, During World War II, many firefighters were away at | ||
| war, and the prevention of forest fires and wildfires became a | ||
| matter of urgent importance across the nation; the United States | ||
| Department of Agriculture Forest Service organized the Cooperative | ||
| Forest Fire Prevention program in 1944, with the help of the War | ||
| Advertising Council and the National Association of State | ||
| Foresters; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The program's first poster featured characters | ||
| from the Disney animated film Bambi, but later that year, artist | ||
| Albert Staehle created a poster featuring a bear pouring a bucket | ||
| of water on a campfire, and Smokey Bear was born; in 1950, an | ||
| orphaned bear cub survived a forest fire in New Mexico and was | ||
| placed in the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where until his | ||
| death in 1976 he served as a living symbol of Smokey Bear; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Over the years, the program's slogan evolved from | ||
| "Smokey Says - Care Will Prevent 9 Out of 10 Forest Fires" to the | ||
| more memorable "Remember . . . Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires," | ||
| and in 2001, it was updated again to "Only You Can Prevent | ||
| Wildfires" to emphasize that not all natural fires occur in | ||
| forests; many Americans of a certain age remember the popular tune | ||
| "Smokey the Bear," in which the songwriters inserted "the" into | ||
| Smokey's official name to maintain the rhythm of the song; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The longest-running public service campaign in | ||
| the nation's history, the Smokey Bear program has been credited | ||
| with reducing the number of acres lost across the nation each | ||
| year to fire from 9.1 million to 8.5 million; the campaign | ||
| remains vital through the ongoing partnership of the federal | ||
| Forest Service, the Texas A&M Forest Service, the National | ||
| Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Now three-quarters of a century old, Smokey Bear | ||
| is one of the world's most recognized characters, and today he | ||
| continues to instruct new generations of Texans on the prevention | ||
| of human-caused wildfires and the preservation of the scenic | ||
| beauty of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th | ||
| Legislature, hereby commemorate the 75th anniversary of the | ||
| Smokey Bear Wildfire Prevention campaign and extend to all | ||
| those associated with the program sincere best wishes for | ||
| continued success. | ||
| Nichols | ||
| ________________________________ | ||
| President of the Senate | ||
| I hereby certify that the | ||
| above Resolution was adopted by | ||
| the Senate on March 25, 2019. | ||
| ________________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| ________________________________ | ||
| Member, Texas Senate | ||
