SMOKEY: Only you can prevent forest fires.

We remember learning that messages from a friendly bear in dungarees and a ranger’s hat when we were young. That bear, of course, is better known as Smokey Bear, created in a campaign by the U.S. Forest Service in 1944.

This year marks 75 years of Smokey’s teachings.

Smokey’s prevention campaign includes information on proper backyard burning, campfire safety and the proper use and maintenance of equipment to cut down on the risk of a wildfire.

Sadly, as of 2017, 88% of wildfires were caused by humans, according to Smokey’s website.

In a funny story about the icon of wildfire prevention, Smokey Bear has been a notable presence — and had an even more notable absence — at the Penn-York Lumbermen’s Club and later the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum.

A life-size, fiberglass statue was donated in 1970 by the PA Forestry Department. The bear was a big draw for a photo op for countless visitors to the PA Lumber Museum, where it was stationed along the entrance road.

In 2016, the Lumber Museum posted a photo of the statue and the story of its disappearance — caused by a chainsaw wielding ne’er-do-well who lifted the statue from its feet (securely bolted to a boulder) and stole away with the statue, never to be seen again. In 2016, the statue had been MIA for over 35 years. Museum staff encouraged the public to share the secret of Smokey’s whereabouts, to no avail. The current whereabouts of said statue remain a mystery.

Meanwhile, The Smithsonian’s National Zoo is celebrating Smokey’s birthday as well. In May, they debuted a bilingual interpretive trail called The Smokey Bear Zone, which travels along the perimeter of the habitat where the “real” Smokey Bear lived.

It includes information on fire ecology, forest management and the history of the campaign. Posters are spread out along the trail for visitors to enjoy, depicting Smokey Bear over the years. There are photos of the real bear and a life-size statue as well. The trail is open through December.