LANCASTER — John Accardi will be the presenter during the celebration of Smokey Bear's 75th birthday at Weeks State Park on Thursday, Aug. 8. And there will be Smokey's birthday cake for all to enjoy.

Smokey Bear's story begins with World War II. On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, and the following spring, they fired shells that exploded on an oil field very close to the Los Padres National Forest. Fear grew among Americans that more attacks would ignite wildfires and bring a disastrous loss of life and destruction of property. It was then that the protection of forests became a matter of national importance.

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.