Did you know that Smokey Bear has his own zip code? Or that a quarter of U.S. ski resorts are located on national forests? To celebrate 120 years of the USDA Forest Service, we bring you these and 10 more fascinating facts about the agency whose motto is “Caring for the Land and Serving People.”

Early days

In 1905, wood was in the forefront of American minds. Cities, railroads, communications and homes ran on wood – in fact, wood served as the main energy source in the U.S. until 1880. Its importance meant it had to be managed. Enter: the Forest Service.

Formerly named the Division of Forestry, the agency was renamed in 1905 when management of forest reserves was transferred from the U.S. Department of the Interior to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Gifford Pinchot became the first Chief. Forest reserves – of which there were 60 and covered 56 million acres – were rebranded as national forests and their size more than doubled under Pinchot’s leadership. Today, Forest Service employees manage 154 national forests, 20 national grasslands and 1 tall grass prairie, covering 193 million acres in 42 states and Puerto Rico – a total area of land about the size of Texas.

Serving up sips

There is nothing like filling a refreshing glass of water from your tap. While at your hydration station, did you know that national forests are the single most important source of fresh water in the U.S.? National forests aren’t just for wood – they are the source of drinking water for over 60 million Americans in 3,400 communities, even large cities like Los Angeles, Portland, Denver and Atlanta. Cheers to that!

Iconic forest rangers

There have only been three Honorary Forest Rangers to the Forest Service: actress Betty White, Rolling Stones’ keyboardist and musical director Chuck Leavell, and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

While these honors are recent, to become a forest ranger in 1905, you had to pass a challenging written test and a field exam. If you aced your written knowledge of basic ranching and livestock, forest conditions, lumbering, surveying, mapping and cabin construction, then you would have to pass the field portion.  For the opportunity to earn $60 per month, applicants had to prove they could:

• saddle a horse, ride at a trot and gallop

• pack a horse or mule

• “throw” a diamond hitch

• accurately pace the distance around a measured course and compute the area in acres

• take bearings with a compass and follow a straight line

• shoot accurately at a target

• cook a meal, eat your prepared meal

• BYO equipment, horses or pack animals

What’s in a name?

When Gifford Pinchot became the first Chief, he purposefully chose to include “service” in the name of the newly established agency. He wanted to remind employees that their work was in service to the public through forestry doing the “greatest good for the greatest number in the long run” His choice makes the Forest Service one of the few federal agencies with “service” in its name.

Badge of authority

The Forest Service insignia resulted from a design competition among Washington Office Forest Service staff in 1905. But the iconic shield design was not from a winner of the contest. Rather, after reviewing submissions and being left wanting one with more official “oomph,” Edward T. Allen and William C. Hodge, Jr. designed the official Forest Service badge featuring symbols of authority that the public would recognize and respect both in the Washington Office and out in the field. The design was partially inspired by the Union Pacific Railroad shield and sketched out on cigarette rolling paper.

Sporting the pickle suit

In the Forest Service, district rangers, forest supervisors, and any front-line employees with contact with the public are able to wear the “pickle suit.” Not a mascot costume, but the nickname for the recognizable green and tan agency uniforms that were designed by Max Peterson, the agency’s eleventh Chief. While standard dress has always been part of the agency, the uniforms evolved until 1974 when they reached the look still worn today: dark green blazer, sage green trousers or slacks and greenish tan shirt with myrtle green tie.

America’s backyard

The first Forest Service campground was developed in 1916 at Eagle Creek on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge on the Mt. Hood National Forest. It was a “fully modern” facility with tables, toilets, a check-in station and a ranger station. After World War II, outdoor recreation increased tenfold on public lands. And today, there are about 159 million recreation visits to national forests each year. One of the unique ways Americans have been able to spend time enjoying their national forests is through the recreation residence program, which allows private citizens to have a permit for a single-family cabin in designated areas of national forests. Who wouldn’t love their own summer home (only one per family) in a national forest?! This program has been around since the early 1900s and although the Forest Service ceased allowing new cabins to be built several decades ago, there are still over 13,000 recreation residences spanning 114 forests across the country. The cabins are private property that may be bought and sold by the private parties. Recreation residences pay annual land use and transfer fees.

Classic signage

The classic trapezoidal signs welcoming you to a national forest were designed in the 1960s by Virgil “Bus” Carrell. The nostalgic shape and font that countless visitors have snapped a photo beside have been used by the Forest Service for so long that they have become common law trademark.

A new standard: Incident Management Teams

Whether fighting fire, managing the land or helping Americans recreate across the country, Forest Service staff are adept at managing what could otherwise be chaos. The agency also happens to be the unsung hero in establishing today's standard in emergency response: incident management teams. The Forest Service invented the concept in the 1970s after southern California suffered a wave of destructive fires and Congress tasked the agency to design a system to effectively coordinate interagency actions following disasters. The result was the Incident Command System. The Forest Service even used this well-tested system after 9/11 at the Pentagon and World Trade Center, aiding in initial recovery efforts and providing months of support and training for responders.

Smokey Bear

The legend himself, Smokey Bear is the longest continuously running public service campaign in U.S. history. Smokey celebrated his 80th birthday last year, and while not technically a Forest Service employee, the agency manages him along with the National Association of State Foresters and the Advertising Council, spreading the message of Only You Can Prevent Wildfires. He is the only American with a personalized zip code — 20252 — the other belonging to the U.S. President. To learn more, visit smokeybear.com