We recently discovered a stash of loose vintage U.S. Forest Service pamphlets under the sofa mattress in the basement office of our Information Ambassador, Pokey the Pigeon.
Apparently, he teamed up with Woodsy Owl—a lesser-known but equally strange Forest Service mascot who is now banned from several national parks for reasons we won’t get into—and stole them from a Smokey Bear performer at a Junior Forest Ranger summer camp in the 1980s. So, we thought it made sense to clean them thoroughly and have him share them here for everyone to enjoy.
“Every year millions of Americans visit the National Forests, or make use of their resources, not only for camping and picnicking, but also for the timber, wildlife, grazing, and water. Management and protection of these resources is an important function of the Forest Service. It means jobs and homes for people; a haven for fish and game; cattle and sheep for the market place; clean, clear water for the community; and an attractive place to visit with your family.”
Some of these pamphlets explicitly state the year they were published, while others simply have a GPO (Government Printing Office) label followed by a series of numbers that lead to fruitless internet searches, meaning the exact publication date isn’t always apparent.
Given the fraught and broken chain of custody this batch came from, we can only assume that unlabeled pamphlets are all from the same 1970s–1980s timeline (especially considering their conditions and visual design styles).
Most of these are very well typeset and follow pretty disciplined design principles. Unfortunately, it is unclear who was designing them at the time—or whether it was done in-house or contracted out to design firms of the era.
The pamphlets largely rely on minimal, often humorous illustrations to accompany Forest Service language about protocols and best practices for the safe use of parks and forest lands—with the occasional monochromatic photograph.
If you are caught by a bear, try playing dead, lying on your stomach or side with your legs drawn up to your chest. Clasp your hands over the back of your neck. Bears have passed by people like this without harming them
Grizzly, Grizzly, Grizzly, Grizzly. National Park Service, Department of the Interior & Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1981 (allegedly).
Most of these are printed on white-adjacent copy paper, but some have been produced on heavyweight, textured paper stock—like An Outdoor Code, published by something called the Colorado Mountain Club and the Rocky Mountain Region U.S. Forest Service. The green ink on yellow waffle paper is pretty wild, even 40 years later.
The maps are likely a bit outdated, but the paper smells like an old library which is a great bonus.
Some of our favorite vintage Forest Service pamphlets are massive foldouts featuring colorful 1970s maps of the Midwest and Western mountain regions, whose boundaries may have since changed.
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.
John Muir
A very succinct through-line in these pamphlets was the obsession with bears and bear safety.
A couple National Park Service brochures were mixed in with the batch—whose focus was also very bear-centric.
Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.
John Muir
While we will not be selling any of these in our gift shop, many vintage Forest Service (and National Park) pamphlets and flyers can be found on eBay and other online stores. Our trusted Forest Service attaché and source, Kyle, has assured us that these pamphlets are archived online in various places, such as HathiTrust and FS.USDA.gov Publications.
Also, shoutout to John Muir, whose dedication to the outdoors and insistence on recognizing trees, valleys, meadows, and areas that speak loudly but prefer to be left alone, was essential to preserving their sanctity and wholeness.