Thanks in large part to the efforts of Wisconsin Dells residents and Adams County master gardeners Dan and Laura Reger, Smokey the Bear has a new “firewise” garden to call his own at the oft-visited park in front of the local Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources office on River Road. The new garden was dedicated as a new “Firewise Education Site” during a brief ceremony there the afternoon of Sept. 8, and its new designation means it demonstrates fire-safe landscaping principles, making it the first of its kind in the state. The ceremony also included a presentation, by Dells DNR Forest Ranger Melissa Guillaume Cappaert, of a “Smokey the Bear Fire Prevention Award” to the Regers, for their tireless contributions to the park during the process leading to its transformation and official designation.