So, it's Smokey Bear's 80th birthday on Aug. 9, which is a really long time to be preventing wildfires. David Pollack / Corbis via Getty Images But I actually learned recently that Smokey isn't a ...

Smokey Bear’s message was later changed to “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires” in 2001 as the term wildfire can apply to “uncontrolled, unplanned, unwanted outdoor fire,” the department stated.