Junior Forest Rangers

The USDA Forest Service has created two national junior ranger programs: Junior Forest Ranger Adventure Guide and 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. The [https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/conservationeducation/smokey-woodsy/junior-rangers Junior Forest Ranger program] is also available in Spanish. The forest service also maintains a [https://www.fs.fed.us/learn/kids webpage] with kid friendly activities.

The Junior Forest Rangers program began in 1953, when a Smokey Bear plush toy produced by Ideal Toys and sold by Macy's department store came with a card that allowed children to contact Smokey and become a Junior Forest Ranger.{{cite book |last1=Rice |first1=Ronald E. |last2=Atkin |first2=Charles K. |date=2001 |title=Public Communication Campaigns |publisher=SAGE |page=[https://archive.org/details/publiccommunicat00rice/page/277 277] |isbn=9780761922063 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/publiccommunicat00rice/page/277 }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/centennial/smokey.shtml |title=The Story of Smokey Bear |date=2005-07-13 |access-date=2019-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125063452/http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/centennial/smokey.shtml |archive-date=2010-01-25 }}

The Forest Service re-launched the Junior Forest Rangers program in 2006 with a redesigned booklet, now called an "Adventure Guide."{{cite web |url=https://www.fs.fed.us/news/releases/usda-forest-service-launches-national-effort-develop-conservation-leaders-tomorrow |title=USDA Forest Service Launches National Effort to Develop Conservation Leaders of Tomorrow |date=2006-05-16 |access-date=2019-04-21 }}