1972 Ayupvin / USFS Pictorial Map of the National Children's Forest

A charming 1972 pictorial map, drawn by an artist named Ayupvin for the U.S. Forest Service and Hunt-Wesson Foods, depicting the First National Children's Forest, with sites in the San Bernardino National Forest, the Mark Twain National Forest, and the George Washington National Forest. It is the earliest known appearance of Woodsy Owl on a map.

A Closer Look

Displaying the continental United States, the three national forests constituting the National Children's Forest are represented in their approximate locations with illustrated trees, animals, Native Americans, cowboys, boats, trains, and more. Additional illustrations appear towards the margins, outside of the continental U.S., including the National Children's Forest logo, a hand holding a tree. Each of the three constituent parts of the forest is described along with the date of a recent fire, all of which occurred in 1970 and 1971 and were started by human actions.

The verso is notable for including a message from Hunt-Wesson C.E.O. Edward Gelsthorpe and an early appearance of Woodsy Owl on a decal. The character, only adopted by the Forest Service in late 1970, had been designed to supplement the already well-known figure of Smokey Bear.

The National Children's Forest

This map and the First National Children's Forest were an outgrowth of a greater environmental awareness at the start of the 1970s. The three national forests included had all witnessed fires in a roughly six-month span in late 1970 and early 1971. The initiative was a combined effort of the U.S. Forest Service and the food conglomerate Hunt-Wesson. Children were meant to assist in replanting trees in the burned area, which would then be associated with their names (perhaps the reason for the signature line here). In the event, the children's forest in the San Bernardino National Forest was the only one of the three sites that saw a sustained focus and is known today simply as the National Children's Forest. Children from across the country helped build the first trail through the forest in 1993, and the site retains an emphasis on children's education.

Publication History and Census

This pictorial map was drawn by an artist surnamed Ayupvin, about whom we have been unable to locate any further information. It was produced by a joint effort of Hunt-Wesson and the U.S.F.S. around 1972. We have been unable to identify any institutional examples of this map.