Yellowstone Is Green 23 Years After Fire

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Yellowstone Is Green 23 Years After Fire

July 26, 2011 ⋅

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A tourist takes photographs of the aftermath of a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1988.

BLACKENED FOREST AFTER 1988 WILDFIRE

To GUARDIAN editor Dave Frazier it seemed like only yesterday when he experienced two fire storms in the same day covering the Yellowstone Fires of 1988 for NEWSWEEK.

We took a little drive through the park last week and noted the growth of lodge pole pines and a new appreciation for the “natural reseeding” aspects of forest fires.

Fire in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming consumes the lodgepole forests during the historic 1988 blaze.

HISTORIC FIRE OF 1988

Now a part of history and a dim memory for most of the nation, the fires have left a path of green in what was a blackened forest 23 years ago. Recalling the storm at Old Faithful while parked in the middle of a bare parking lot away from any trees, Frazier said it was an adrenaline rush of equal parts of fear and excitement.

A firestorm passes over the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming during the 1988 historic fire.

OLD FAITHFUL LODGE DURING FIRE STORM

Comments & Discussion

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A.K. Lienhart-Minnick
Jul 26, 2011, 2:52 pm

Your photos are really spectacular, David. As usual! The one of the lodge conveys all the sense of potential loss and the urgency firefighters must have felt. I wonder if anything quite conveys how terrifying a force the wild fires are in such dry conditions.
Cyclops
Jul 26, 2011, 4:53 pm

Isn’t it amazing how resilient old ‘Mother nature’ is? It seems she has been able to take anything we throw against her every time.
Great job Dave.
Zippo
Jul 26, 2011, 4:55 pm

Heck, it was green the next year. 1989-90 was a great year to see the park. Fire is Mother Nature’s way. Good they saved the old buildings, bad they changed the policy so that fire can’t get it’s work done. Bad they’ve turned it into yet anouther huge budget program. How much did it cost you to see your park this year?
EDITOR NOTE–Since the federal government has practiced age discrimination I get in for free. Younger people (under 62) are charged $25. Used to be a “victim” and now I am a beneficiary…what a country!
BC
Aug 17, 2011, 11:56 am

Too bad forest management was so short-sided to spurn bio-diversity in favor of the rapid growth of one tree species. The fires of the late 80s were caused by poor management strategy (put out all fires – let overgrowth accumulate) and poor management will be the cause of fires in a few short years thanks to the beetles. See http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/15/beetle-infestation-get-much-worse/

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