Most of Michigan's wildfires occur in the spring -- April, May and June. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the agency responsible for wildland fire protection on 20 million acres of state and private land, April is the worst month of all.

Which is why the DNR, in partnership with the Michigan Interagency Wildfire Protection Association, is using the state's annual observance of Wildfire Prevention Week, April 20-26, to remind the public about the dangers of wildfires.

"More than 90 percent of Michigan's wildfires are caused by humans, and more than one-third of those fires are started by burning debris, such as yard waste or brush," said Paul Kollmeyer, the DNR's fire prevention program coordinator.

Despite the extensive public awareness campaign launched by the DNR and its firefighting partners each spring, many citizens may look around them and think the early spring storms have taken the edge off the wildfire danger. Not so, said Kollmeyer.

"The dried matter from last year is still there, and all it will take is a couple of typical warm, breezy spring days, and folks with a notion to clean up the yard after a long winter will want to burn," he said. "Just one strong wind gust and suddenly, we have a wildfire."

Although Smokey Bear and his simple direct forest fire message has been the symbol of forest fire prevention to generations of Americans, the first fire prevention campaigns in Michigan began around 1911, when a private corporation called the Northern Forest Protective Association, based in Munising, pioneered a series of signs and posters which warned against carelessness and preached forest protection.

The association levied fees on members based upon their enrolled acreage. This entitled them to receive fire protection services from the association costing about a penny an acre annually. Some of this money was used to create illustrated forest fire pamphlets. They even supplied lumber camps with playing cards bearing forest fire slogans.

About this time, the state also began issuing similar warnings to make the public forest fire conscious. The state fire wardens would nail fire prevention signs, made of cloth and paper, to trees and telephone poles while on patrol, and this practice eventually developed into the wood-constructed fire danger sign that remains in use today.

Slogans have long been a part of the fire prevention campaigns. Smokey Bear's familiar message that "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires," remains one of the most successful slogans ever developed in any advertising campaign. But the first poster of Smokey, which appeared in 1944, carried the caption "Smokey says-Care will prevent 9 out of 10 forest fires!"

Two decades before, the widely used slogan "One Tree Makes a Million Matches; One Match Destroys a Million Trees" was printed on match books for distribution.

In 1928, the slogan "Keep Michigan Green" was created. The fact that then Governor Fred Green was running for reelection at the time was reported to be purely coincidental.

Initially, slides of raging fires causing significant damage to forests and towns were shown in theaters across the country to publicize fire prevention. Many of these images were color tinted to be more dramatic.

In 1921, the same year the Michigan Department of Conservation was organized, the department created two motion pictures devoted to fire prevention that were shown at schools, fairs, sportsmen's exhibitions and even on a touring fire prevention train. In 1926, a forest fire film, "The Red Poacher," was shown at a number of commercial theaters throughout the state.

But it was not until the arrival of Smokey Bear in the mid-1940s that state fire officials found their best fire prevention message.

In addition to the posters and radio announcements, Smokey began making public appearances. In the 1950s, the DNR used a mechanical statue of Smokey that was mounted on a trailer. Smokey's head slowly turned from side to side and its voice was a taped message recorded by Arthur Godfrey.

Smokey also became a frequent, and popular, visitor to elementary schools across the state. In 1966, Smokey was given a helper -- Smokey Jr. The pair worked very well together because Smokey Jr. was less intimidating to the smaller school children.

"Today, DNR forest fire officers continue to promote wildfire safety by educating the public in Firewise concepts and, of course, sending Smokey Bear's fire prevention message," said Scott Heather DNR state wildfire supervisor. "Programs at fairs and in the classroom are an important aspect of the job."

But Heather said the current challenge is elevating important fire prevention information above all the competing messages that are flowing into people's hectic lives.

"IPods, satellite television and radio and the Internet have surpassed the handbill nailed to a post warning of wildfire's potential threat," Heather said.

The best method of fire prevention is education, and the DNR is committed to doing all it can to prevent wildfires knowing that reducing carelessly caused fires will save hundreds of fire department runs and thousands of scorched acres.

"Preventing any single fire perhaps will save someone's home or possibly even a person's life," said Heather.

According to Heather, statistics remind us each year that there are thousands of negligent fires caused by people who didn't hear the message "Drown your campfire before leaving," or "Don't burn when it is windy."

But what those figures don't say is how many times the message was heard and that someone's cautious act prevented a fire.

For more information on wildfire prevention and safety, visit the DNR Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr-fire.