The USDA Forest Service has created two national junior ranger programs
Junior Forest Ranger Adventure Guide
an
Junior Snow Ranger
The Junior Forest Rangers is a program allows children to, after completing a booklet of activities related to outdoor skills, conservation, and forest fire prevention, receive a Junior Forest Rangers or Snow Ranger patch and certificate. Th
Junior Forest Ranger program
is also available in Spanish. The forest service also maintains
webpage
with kid friendly activities. The Junior Forest Rangers program began in 1953, when a

Smokey Bear Smokey Bear is an American campaign and advertising icon of the U.S. Forest Service. In the Wildfire Prevention Campaign, which is the longest-running public service announcement campaign in United States history, the Ad Council, the United St ...

plush toy produced by

Ideal Toys Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Bets ...

and sold by

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

department store came with a card that allowed children to contact Smokey and become a Junior Forest Ranger. In 1955 there were 500,000 Junior Forest Rangers, and Smokey Bear was receiving so much mail that in 1965 he was given his own zip code. The Forest Service re-launched the Junior Forest Rangers program in 2006 with a redesigned booklet, now called an "Adventure Guide."

References

{{Reflist United States Forest Service Environmental education in the United States Outdoor education organizations