Smokey Bear Fire Prevention ca 1970 ca 1985

This film contains Smokey Bear fire prevention public service announcements. In "Trapped", John Wayne, states, "This is what a forest fire looks like through an animal's eyes." It shows various scenes of forest fires blazing at night. The phrase: "Please help prevent forest fires" appears on the screen. In "Match" a flower, then a pine sapling emerge from the ground in a forest and begin to grow larger. Next a match emerges from the ground and ignites. The sounds of birds chirping and a piano playing are in the background. A narrator cautions: "A lot of things can come to life in the forest. Don't let fire be one of them." The PSA "Great Americans" begins with a narrator saying, "On this our country's two-hundredth birthday, thanks to those who help make America great." As the narrator says this, drawings of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and finally Smokey Bear appear on the screen. In the fourth PSA a young girl states, "Smokey Bear works very hard in the forest, but he needs our help. Only you can prevent forest fires." The fifth PSA consists of a dramatic poem reading. In a classroom, three young girls recite a poem thanking America and Smokey Bear for the trees. In "Forest Fire Prevention" the camera starts at the base of a pine tree and begins to move slowly up. Excerpts of famous speeches and announcements, such as the Gettysburg address, the radio announcement about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and John F. Kennedy saying "ask not what your country can do for you" are chronologically played as the camera pans upward. A narrator states, "In the time it takes to grow a tree you can grow a country." After reaching the tree's top, the camera drops rapidly down to focus on a match burning in pine needles at the base of the tree. The words: only you can prevent forest fires, appear on the screen. The final PSA, "Liberty Tree", illustrates the roles trees have played in the history of the United States from the raw materials to make wagons, rifles, canoes, and railroad ties, to famous nicknames like Old Hickory. The narrator cautions the viewer to be careful with fire, "Because a country without its forests is a country without its future."

Creator: Department of Agriculture. Forest Service. (07/01/1905 - ) (Most Recent)

Series : Forest Service Public Information Films and Public Service Announcements, compiled 1945 - 1995

Record Group 95: Records of the Forest Service, 1870 - 2008

Use Restriction: Some or all of this material may be restricted by copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. The use and reproduction of the Smokey Bear symbol is restricted by Public Law 82-359, as amended by P.L. 93-318, Title 18 U.S.C. 711, and 36 CFR 271.

Contact: National Archives at College Park - Motion Pictures (RD-DC-M), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001
Phone: 301-837-3540, Fax: 301-837-3620, Email: [email protected]

National Archives Identifier: 13457
Local Identifier: 95.159

http://research.archives.gov/description/13457

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