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Despite the apparent devastation of a forest fire, nature rallies swiftly. Forage returns, and eventually Yellowstone’s prominent evergreen, lodgepole pine reappears. Tribune photo by Gib Mathers
Fires raged 20 summers ago in Yellowstone National Park, Shoshone and Bighorn forests and other locations around the west. Now, National Park Service officials are looking back — and looking forward. Tim Klukas, National Park Service fire use manager and Tim Reid, deputy chief ranger and fire management officer, spread a map illustrating past fires on the hood of their pickup truck parked at Undine Falls in Yellowstone. It is a pleasant Friday morning. The falls bursts over rocks like a fire hydrant, ankle-high grass and flowers bend in the wind and 20-year-old lodge pole pine reach for the sun. It is hard to believe a fire swept through here years ago, until the eye strays to old, scorched tree trunks standing like weathered pencils. Yellowstone Park encompasses about 2.2 million acres. In 1988, nearly 794,000 acres were on fire in Yellowstone — 36 percent of the park, according to service records. Most of the fires began outside the park, said Reid. Klukas, Reid and Yellowstone Park Spokesman Al Nash take a short stroll. A hillside offers a perfect setting for their lecture. Grass and flowers abound. Scattered old snags — casualties of the 88 fires — cling stubbornly to the earth and sky, to stagger up the ridge. New-generation lodge pole are making their stand, growing verdantly in clumps and in singles. The land has made a remarkable comeback. Natural restoration is quicker in some locations than others. Klukas said it depends on the quality of the soil and depth of the fire. If it burned the duff — that cushiony carpet of pine needles and seeds — rebirth is slower. After all these years, Yellowstone appears good as new. The Park Service and other federal agencies have learned since that grim and smoky summer of 1988. In the 1900s, fires were quickly extinguished, which lead to the accumulation of fuels -- dead and decaying trees, Klukas said. That policy was successful until 1988. Then, all hell broke loose. "There were fires everywhere," Klukas said. It was a wake-up call for mobilization, Klukas said. Since then, federal government agencies have developed policies that mobilize firefighting resources and make the most of those resources. Training for all is now the same, and they apply standardized methods to evaluate fires. Experts use best available science, and firefighting plans must be approved, Klukas said. "The coordination is infinitely better now," Reid said. Management analyses also follow each fire season, Klukas said. If it is a natural fire, such as one ignited by lightning, the Park Service may allow it to burn if it does not threaten life or property, Klukas said. "Any human-caused fires are suppressed immediately," Reid said. Globing warming is the new foe. The weather gets warmer sooner and stays warmer longer each year, Nash said. As a result, fire seasons are prolonged. The sun beats down, on Friday afternoon, then takes a breather behind a cloud. All around, marmots whistle like muffled smoke detectors. Snow pack has been good this winter, and rains have colored Yellowstone green. As conditions are now, Klukas is predicting a moderate fire season in the park. One thing is for sure though — despite the snow and rain that seemed plentiful to some, it was more like normal precipitation. The land requires several seasons to recover from a drought, Klukas said.
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