She wears a hard hat, wields a rake, and she’s the new face in forest fire safety and awareness.
Reddy Squirrel is the creation of the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, a private, nonprofit environmental advocacy group.
A few months ago, the only spokescritter for the service was Smokey Bear.
“Normally, we wouldn’t bother to compete with a senior citizen, but he’s getting a bit long in the tooth,” said Andy Stahl, executive director of FSEEE. Stahl says the 60-year-old bear’s mantra, “Only you can prevent forest fires,” is getting stale.
Stahl said despite the continuous Smokey bear promotional campaign, there has been no decrease in the number of forest fires started by humans per year.
Stahl said Smokey Bear’s message gives people the misconception forest fires can be prevented and refuses to admit fire is a necessity.
“No one can prevent forest fires. Be ready,” is Reddy’s slogan.
Stahl said the squirrel’s updated message tells people forest fires are inevitable, and instead of focusing mainly on campfire disasters, as Smokey’s campaign has, they must be prepared to protect their homes in the case of fire.
Paul Orr, the forestry information and education chief of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, said the new movement in fire awareness education is not about how one can prevent a fire but how to exercise fire safety.
He said more people are moving into rural areas and do not know how to implement safety measures, such as using fire resistant building material and keeping their yards clear of fallen pine needles.
Stahl said Reddy reminds everyone, including city dwellers, their homes are at risk for a wildfire. Suburban and urban areas once were wildlands, and in many places, the environment still is at risk for burning under the right conditions.
Reddy’s message also includes how federal and state forestry workers maintain forests and how fires can be beneficial to wildlife.
Thomas Campbell, urban forester of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, said forest fires are a natural part of the ecosystem.
Campbell said Louisiana uses fire as one of the best forest upkeep tools. He said foresters intentionally will set controlled fires, called proscribed fires, to keep undergrowth in check.
Some species of trees, such as the Lodge Pole Pine tree, depend on fires for reproduction. The pine’s cones only will open up and disperse its seeds after exposure to the extreme heat from fire; the tree’s thick bark protects it from burning, he said.
Some animals, such as the white-tailed deer, appreciate forest fires because the occasional blaze will help rid the forest floor of “leaf litter” and dense growths of shrubs or thickets.
Thickets impede the deer’s ability to move around the forest, and burning the plants helps to distribute food by making the food more accessible to the deer and resupplying nutrients.
Orr said the most dangerous areas in Louisiana for fires are where there are dense pine trees. He said layers of dry pine needles on the forest floor are very flammable, and as the layers build up, they become more dangerous when an uncontrolled fire occurs.
He said small periodical proscribed fires help prevent dangerous wild fires by burning off small amounts of dried needles and leaves.
Advertisements for Reddy’s campaign were published in the past few issues of Forest Magazine, which is published by FSEEE. And, Stahl said radio spots with the squirrel are to be aired after the new year, and a TV public service announcement is in the works.
The voice for Reddy is supplied by Lori Messenger, a professional smoke jumper. She is a firefighter who jumps into fires in rural areas to help extinguish the flames.
Stahl said Reddy explicitly was chosen to be female. The group wanted to be progressive, because they think females are underrepresented in the media. They also chose a female character because women traditionally are concerned with protecting the home.
Reddy comes to Louisiana from a Douglas Fir grove outside of Eugene, Oregon; however, she has “family all over the country, from the forest, to the prairie, to the desert.”