JACKSON, Wyo. — The Friends of the Bridger-Teton (FBT) shared to Facebook on Friday that it was awarded a bronze medal in the Smokey Bear Awards from the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention (CFFP) program.
Specifically, FBT’s Ambassador Program received the award. The program is made up of volunteers who answer questions and perform outreach and maintenance on the Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF), among other things. According to FBT’s website, the Ambassador Program has been responsible for extinguishing more than 1,000 fires. The ambassadors have also assisted in installing more than 400 stainless steel fire rings in designated dispersed camping areas on the BTNF.
According to FBT’s social media post, CFFP wrote the following about the Ambassador Program: “The ambassador program not only actively extinguishes campfires but also educates millions of [forest] visitors to prevent potential wildfires. Friends of the Bridger-Teton is an invaluable partner to the National Forest and continues to increase wildfire prevention capacity. We hope that this programming will serve as inspiration for other organizations and future wildfire prevention initiatives.”
The CFFP was created in 1942 as a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service, the Ad Council and the National Association of State Foresters (NASF). The three partnering agencies promote and manage Smokey Bear’s image and wildfire prevention campaign.
“The Smokey Bear Awards are reserved for individuals, teams, and organizations that provide outstanding service with significant and sustained program impact in the wildfire prevention arena,” reads NASF’s website.
The Smokey Bear Awards are broken into three different levels: gold, silver and bronze. Gold signifies wildfire prevention work with a national scope, silver is for multi-state prevention work, and bronze is awarded for statewide prevention work.
