De eee Do BOONE BiUsin bebo T IGN if 
Smokey Bear of DuPage County 
Editor's Note: The Citation below was presented to Mr. LeRoy Tunstall of Wheaton, 
Illinois, at the Annual Meeting of the Illinois Audubon Society in Naperville on May 
5, 1962, by Raymond Mostek, Conservation Chairman. 
One of the great destroyers 
of wildlife, soil, and woods is 
the forest fire. Illinois has two 
fire seasons. One normally ex- 
tends from the middle of Febru- 
ary to the middle of May. This 
is when the “weed burner” and 
“debris burner” is most active. 
Few brush fires occur during 
the summer. 
The fall fire season starts 
early in October and usually ex- 
tends through November, with 
rain and snow ending the haz- 
ard in early December. Camp- 
ers, smokers and debris-burners 
are the worst offenders during 
these months. The annual acre- 
age burned over in Illinois has 
declined in the last ten years 
from 200,000 to less than 18,000. 
There are also less fires. One 
reason for this decline is fire 
prevention education conducted 
: by state and federal agencies 
When Woods Burn, Birds Must Leave and by civic organizations of all 
types. 
LeRoy Tunstall, a leader in fire prevention work in DuPage County for 
nearly ten years, also serves as Director of the Illinois Audubon Society and 
the founder and President of the DuPage Audubon Society. He was a boy 
scout in his youth and later a scout leader. At times it was his sad duty to 
fight fires near his boyhood home in the Allegheny Forest in Pennsylvania. 
From his youth, Mr. Tunstall developed a zeal for fire prevention which 
has never waned. 
He has used many means to bring the “Smokey the Bear” message home 
to adults and children alike. Some of his projects have included: (1) Dis- 
tributing thousands of pieces of literature at the DuPage Audubon Society 
booth at the County Fair; (2) Issuing leaflets on fire prevention at the 
Wildlife Films sponsored by the Illinois Audubon Society at the Chicago 
Natural History Museum; (3) Speaking at civic meetings and schools in 
DuPage County; (4) Distributing literature, blotters, and Smokey the 
Bear Bookmarks at schools and libraries; (5) Giving leaflets to pupils in 
his Y.M.C.A. ice-skating classes. 
In recognition of his efforts and achievements, the Directors of the 
Society are proud to award Mr. Tunstall the title, “Mr. Smokey Bear of 
DuPage County.” 
