Tourists have departed Brownstone National Park where Humphrey the Bear James MacDonald lives, leaving trash everywhere, despite signs asking visitors not to litter. The park ranger Bill Thompson, who acts as the boss, starts by trying to tidy up himself but quickly decides that the job shouldn’t fall entirely on his shoulders. He calls in the resident bears and, with a jaunty tune in the air, orders them to “put it in the bag” while they sing and dance along. The bears eagerly collect the debris, bouncing and jostling to the rhythm as if the chore is a game. It isn’t long before the ranger’s nap breaks the illusion, and the bears sense his real motive behind the request.
Humphrey drops the ranger into a garbage can, and the mood shifts from cooperative to confrontational as the bears, feeling used, dump their bags of refuse on the ground in defiance. Realizing that some recognition is due for their help, the ranger suggests a reward—chicken cacciatore—but only if the bears commit to cleaning their respective sections of the park. The bears divide and conquer, moving most of the garbage into a single area, leaving Humphrey stuck with the bulk of the cleaning burden. He works quickly, stuffing trash into a bag, but disaster strikes when the bag catches on a stubborn twig and rips open, sending the refuse spilling out once more.
The ranger supplies a new bag, and Humphrey pursues the trail of trash down a long line, all the way to a cliff. He loses his balance and tumbles off as he tries to deposit the last scrap in the bag. A subsequent attempt to hide the mess under a bush backfires when the shrub turns out to be the home of a rabbit, who disgustedly pushes the garbage back out into the open. A further effort to burn the garbage with a match is halted by Smokey Bear Jackson Weaver, who interjects with the famous reminder that only Humphrey can prevent forest fires.
In the final act, Humphrey stacks all the trash into a hollow stump, which proves to be a geyser named “Ol’ Fateful.” The ranger seems poised to reward him with a dish of cacciatore, but just as Humphrey is about to receive it, the geyser erupts, flinging garbage everywhere and forcing him to begin the cleanup anew, once again. The cycle repeats as the park, urged by caution and care, tests the bear’s endurance, patience, and commitment to keeping Brownstone National Park clean.
