| 1 | 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 474 |
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| 2 | 2 | | WHEREAS, The Smokey Bear Wildfire Prevention campaign is |
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| 3 | 3 | | celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2019, providing a fitting |
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| 4 | 4 | | occasion to pay tribute to its success in educating generations |
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| 5 | 5 | | of Americans in the prevention of wildfires; and |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, During World War II, many firefighters were away at |
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| 7 | 7 | | war, and the prevention of forest fires and wildfires became a |
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| 8 | 8 | | matter of urgent importance across the nation; the United States |
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| 9 | 9 | | Department of Agriculture Forest Service organized the Cooperative |
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| 10 | 10 | | Forest Fire Prevention program in 1944, with the help of the War |
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| 11 | 11 | | Advertising Council and the National Association of State |
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| 12 | 12 | | Foresters; and |
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| 13 | 13 | | WHEREAS, The program's first poster featured characters |
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| 14 | 14 | | from the Disney animated film Bambi, but later that year, artist |
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| 15 | 15 | | Albert Staehle created a poster featuring a bear pouring a bucket |
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| 16 | 16 | | of water on a campfire, and Smokey Bear was born; in 1950, an |
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| 17 | 17 | | orphaned bear cub survived a forest fire in New Mexico and was |
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| 18 | 18 | | placed in the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where until his |
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| 19 | 19 | | death in 1976 he served as a living symbol of Smokey Bear; and |
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| 20 | 20 | | WHEREAS, Over the years, the program's slogan evolved from |
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| 21 | 21 | | "Smokey Says - Care Will Prevent 9 Out of 10 Forest Fires" to the |
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| 22 | 22 | | more memorable "Remember . . . Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires," |
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| 23 | 23 | | and in 2001, it was updated again to "Only You Can Prevent |
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| 24 | 24 | | Wildfires" to emphasize that not all natural fires occur in |
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| 25 | 25 | | forests; many Americans of a certain age remember the popular tune |
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| 26 | 26 | | "Smokey the Bear," in which the songwriters inserted "the" into |
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| 27 | 27 | | Smokey's official name to maintain the rhythm of the song; and |
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| 28 | 28 | | WHEREAS, The longest-running public service campaign in |
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| 29 | 29 | | the nation's history, the Smokey Bear program has been credited |
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| 30 | 30 | | with reducing the number of acres lost across the nation each |
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| 31 | 31 | | year to fire from 9.1 million to 8.5 million; the campaign |
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| 32 | 32 | | remains vital through the ongoing partnership of the federal |
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| 33 | 33 | | Forest Service, the Texas A&M Forest Service, the National |
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| 34 | 34 | | Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council; and |
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| 35 | 35 | | WHEREAS, Now three-quarters of a century old, Smokey Bear |
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| 36 | 36 | | is one of the world's most recognized characters, and today he |
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| 37 | 37 | | continues to instruct new generations of Texans on the prevention |
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| 38 | 38 | | of human-caused wildfires and the preservation of the scenic |
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| 39 | 39 | | beauty of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it |
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| 40 | 40 | | RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th |
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| 41 | 41 | | Legislature, hereby commemorate the 75th anniversary of the |
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| 42 | 42 | | Smokey Bear Wildfire Prevention campaign and extend to all |
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| 43 | 43 | | those associated with the program sincere best wishes for |
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| 44 | 44 | | continued success. |
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| 45 | 45 | | Nichols |
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| 46 | 46 | | ________________________________ |
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| 47 | 47 | | President of the Senate |
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| 48 | 48 | | I hereby certify that the |
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| 49 | 49 | | above Resolution was adopted by |
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| 50 | 50 | | the Senate on March 25, 2019. |
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| 51 | 51 | | ________________________________ |
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| 52 | 52 | | Secretary of the Senate |
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| 53 | 53 | | ________________________________ |
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| 54 | 54 | | Member, Texas Senate |
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