Creator of forest symbol Smokey Bear dies at 89

Harry Rossoll, the U.S. Forest Service illustrator who concoctedand drew the lovable icon Smokey Bear urging Americans to preventforest fires, has died. He was 89.

Rossoll, who drew Smokey's public service cartoons for 35 years,died Thursday of an intestinal aneurysm at DeKalb Medical Center inAtlanta.

His more than 1,000 "Smokey Says" cartoons, which appeared inmorethan 3,000 newspapers, were the cornerstone of one of the mostsuccessful public relations campaigns in history.In 1941, about 208,000 forest fires burned 30 million acres offorest and range land throughout the country. Fifty years later,Forest Service figures showed 10 times as many people visited thenational forests but the number of fires was half the 1941 figure.The public safety campaign is credited with saving about $15 billionin fire damage.U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman issued a statement callingRossoll "the father of Smokey Bear, a beloved national treasure."Rossoll worked for the Forest Service from 1937 until hisretirement in 1971. Early in his tenure, he was asked to create acaricature that would symbolize safety and awareness in America'sforests.Rossoll tried a sketch of a fat bear with a pointed muzzle, whichhis colleague Rudy Wendelin helped refine into the popular version.Smokey Bear was officially born in 1944.