woodsy owl

Did you know the U.S. Forest Service has a long connection to the Boy Scouts of America? Roughly 78 percent of Forest Service employees were Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts in their youth; and many scouting projects, including Eagle Scout projects, take place on national forests or grasslands.

“The Boy Scouts of America is a longtime valued partner of the Forest Service,” said DeVela J. Clark, deputy forest supervisor on the Monongahela National Forest. “Scouts have assisted our National Forests and Grasslands with numerous conservation service projects across the country.”

The Forest Service has been a part of the National Boy Scout Jamboree since 1964, when the Jamboree was held at Valley Forge, Pa.

Some children are unaware that in order to reduce tree hazards, protect other trees, or to get wood, it is necessary to cut trees.

So the recently published book “Why Would Anyone Cut a Tree Down?” is intended to raise awareness of the issue. The book, which primarily targets first to third grade students, also features tips for planting a new tree.

One of America’s most well-known, beloved and important icons is going to have a little work done over the next several weeks in preparation for his upcoming 70^th birthday in 2014.

The mechanical Smokey Bear that welcomes scores of visitors to the U.S. Forest Service headquarters building in Washington, D.C., is going in to have his fur checked, his motor – er, “heart” – fine-tuned and will undergo a thorough cleaning.

Since 2009, Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl have been making the rounds from coast to coast on a green-built, interactive traveling exhibit called Smokey Bear & Woodsy Owl: Home Sweet Home created by the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum in collaboration with the Forest Service.

The educational exhibit features Smokey and Woodsy inspiring children and families to discover and care for natural resources. Visitors are led into imaginary woodland and urban settings where children learn to be explorers and caretakers of the land. Hands-on activities underscore the importance of protecting forest ecosystems and highlight ways to reduce, reuse and recycle valuable resources.

An exciting and interactive exhibit has reached more than 400,000 museum goers across the country and has been given the highest national award for fire prevention activities.

Did you know that Woodsy Owl has been giving a hoot for 40 years? This week, the furry and big-eyed environmental and antipollution steward marks 40 years of being a U.S. Forest Service symbol.

What better way to celebrate wildfire prevention education than saluting a 9-year-old girl and an organization that has roots dating back to 1891.

Woodsy Owl and Forest Service staff members visited Braddock Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia on Friday, Jan. 14 to kickoff the school-wide Recycling Program.  Forest Service employees were part of a K-2^nd grade assembly that focused on educating students about the four R’s—reduce, reuse, recycle and rot.

Tamberly Conway, Conservation Education Coordinator, along with Maritza Huerta from Sustainable Operations, gave a Spanish and English bilingual presentation to kids about how recycling benefits the environment. The students were also offered a hands-on opportunity to practice making compost, an essential part of the “rot” portion of the four R’s.

The USDA Forest Service, Prince William County School District and other partners will host a live webcast - “PollinatorLIVE:  A Distance Learning Adventure - on Wednesday, Sept. 29 from the Washington Youth Garden at the USDA National Arboretum.