Editing Yellowstone National Park (section)

== Forest fires ==
{{See also|Yellowstone fires of 1988|1988–89 North American drought}}
[[File:Yellowstonefire.jpg|thumb|Fire in Yellowstone National Park]]
As [[wildfire]] is a natural part of most ecosystems, plants that are [[Indigenous (ecology)|indigenous]] to Yellowstone have adapted in a variety of ways. [[Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir|Douglas-fir]] have a thick bark that protects the inner section of the tree from most fires. [[Lodgepole Pine]]s—the most common tree species in the park—generally have cones that are only opened by the heat of a fire. Their seeds are held in place by a tough resin, and fire assists in melting the resin, allowing the seeds to disperse. Fire clears out dead and downed wood, providing fewer obstacles for lodgepole pines to flourish. [[Subalpine Fir]], [[Engelmann Spruce]], [[Whitebark Pine]], and other species tend to grow in colder and moister areas, where the fire is less likely to occur. [[Populus tremuloides|Aspen]] trees sprout new growth from their roots, and even if a severe fire kills the tree above ground, the roots often survive unharmed because they are insulated from the heat by soil.<ref name="fireecology">{{cite web |title=Fire Ecology |website=Yellowstone Wildland Fire |publisher=National Park Service |date=October 25, 2006 |url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/ecology.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209144441/http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/ecology.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 9, 2007 |access-date=March 21, 2007 }}</ref> The National Park Service estimates that in natural conditions, grasslands in Yellowstone burned an average of every 20 to 25 years, while forests in the park would experience fire about every 300 years.<ref name="fireecology"/>

About thirty-five natural forest fires are ignited each year by [[lightning]], while another six to ten are started by people—in most cases by accident. Yellowstone National Park has three [[fire lookout|fire lookout towers]], each staffed by trained firefighters. The easiest one to reach is atop Mount Washburn, which has interpretive exhibits and an observation deck open to the public.<ref name="Backpacker">{{cite web |title=Yellowstone National Park: Mount Washburn |url=http://www.backpacker.com/trips/yellowstone-national-park-mount-washburn |website=Backpacker Magazine |date=September 20, 2013 |publisher=Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc |access-date=April 14, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415014125/http://www.backpacker.com/trips/yellowstone-national-park-mount-washburn |archive-date=April 15, 2017 }}</ref> The park also monitors fire from the air and relies on visitor reports of smoke and/or flames.<ref name="firelookout">{{cite web |title=Yellowstone Lookouts |website=Yellowstone Wildland Fire |publisher=National Park Service |date=October 25, 2006 |url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/Suppression/Lookouts.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061216095608/http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/Suppression/Lookouts.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 16, 2006 |access-date=March 21, 2007 }}</ref> Fire towers are staffed almost continuously from late June to mid-September—the primary fire season. Fires burn with the greatest intensity in the late afternoon and evening. Few fires burn more than {{convert|100|acre|ha}}, and the vast majority of fires reach only a little over an acre (0.5&nbsp;ha) before they burn themselves out.<ref name="firefacts">{{cite web |title=Fire Facts |website=Yellowstone Wildland Fire |publisher=National Park Service |date=October 25, 2006 |url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/factoid.htm |access-date=March 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070425202112/http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/factoid.htm |archive-date=April 25, 2007 }}</ref> Fire management focuses on monitoring dead and down wood quantities, soil, and tree moisture, and the weather, to determine those areas most vulnerable to fire should one ignite. The current policy is to suppress all human-caused fires and to evaluate natural fires, examining the benefit or detriment they may pose to the ecosystem. If a fire is considered to be an immediate threat to people and structures, or will burn out of control, then fire suppression is performed.<ref name="monitor">{{cite web |title=Fire Monitoring |website=Yellowstone Wildland Fire |publisher=National Park Service |date=October 25, 2006 |url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/monitor.htm |access-date=March 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206135523/http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/monitor.htm |archive-date=February 6, 2007 }}</ref>
[[File:Wildfire in Yellowstone National Park produces Pyrocumulus clouds1.jpg|thumb|right|Wildfire in Yellowstone National Park produces a [[Flammagenitus (cloud)|pyrocumulus cloud]]]]

To minimize the chances of out-of-control fires and threats to people and structures, park employees do more than just monitor the potential for fire. [[Controlled burn]]s are prescribed fires that are deliberately started to remove dead timber under conditions that allow firefighters an opportunity to carefully control where and how much wood is consumed. Natural fires are sometimes considered prescribed fires if they are left to burn. In Yellowstone, unlike some other parks, there have been very few fires deliberately started by employees as prescribed burns. However, over the last 30 years, over 300 natural fires have been allowed to burn naturally. In addition, firefighters remove dead and down wood and other hazards from areas where they will be a potential fire threat to lives and property, reducing the chances of fire danger in these areas.<ref name="prescribed">{{cite web |title=Prescribed Fire |website=Yellowstone Wildland Fire |publisher=National Park Service |date=October 25, 2006 |url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/prescribed.htm |access-date=March 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610004917/http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/prescribed.htm |archive-date=June 10, 2007 }}</ref> Fire monitors also regulate fire through educational services to the public and have been known to temporarily ban campfires from campgrounds during periods of high fire danger. The common notion in early United States land management policies was that all forest fires were bad. The fire was seen as a purely destructive force and there was little understanding that it was an integral part of the ecosystem. Consequently, until the 1970s, when a better understanding of wildfire was developed, all fires were suppressed. This led to an increase in dead and dying forests, which would later provide the fuel load for fires that would be much harder, and in some cases, impossible to control. The latest Fire Management Plan (2014) allows natural fires to burn if they posed no immediate threat to lives and property.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/management/upload/YELL-2014-FMP-Final_sm.pdf#:~:text=The%20Yellowstone%20Fire%20Management%20Plan%20is%20a%20comprehensive,connection%20between%20park-wide%20objectives%20and%20fire%20management%20actions |title=Yellowstone National Park, 2014 Fire Management Plan |publisher=National Park Service |date=April 17, 2014 |page=26 |access-date=February 10, 2023 |archive-date=February 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216155726/https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/management/upload/YELL-2014-FMP-Final_sm.pdf#:~:text=The%20Yellowstone%20Fire%20Management%20Plan%20is%20a%20comprehensive,connection%20between%20park-wide%20objectives%20and%20fire%20management%20actions |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Crown fire Old Faithful.jpg|thumb|A crown fire approaches the Old Faithful complex on September 7, 1988]]

The spring season of 1988 was wet, but by summer, drought began moving in throughout the northern Rockies, creating the driest year on record to that point. Grasses and plants which grew well in the early summer from the abundant spring moisture produced plenty of grass, which soon turned to dry tinder. The National Park Service began firefighting efforts to keep the fires under control, but the extreme drought made suppression difficult. Between July 15 and 21, 1988, fires quickly spread from {{convert|8500|acre|ha sqmi}} throughout the entire Yellowstone region, which included areas outside the park, to {{convert|99000|acre|ha sqmi}} on the park land alone. By the end of the month, the fires were out of control. Large fires burned together, and on August 20, 1988, the single worst day of the fires, more than {{convert|150000|acre|ha sqmi}} were consumed. Seven large fires were responsible for 95% of the {{convert|793000|acre|ha sqmi}} that were burned over the next couple of months. The cost of 25,000 firefighters and U.S. military forces participating in the suppression efforts was 120 million dollars. By the time winter brought snow that helped extinguish the last flames, the fires had destroyed 67 structures and caused several million dollars in damage.<ref name="fires"/> Though no civilians died, two personnel associated with the firefighting efforts were killed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://npshistory.com/publications/yell/1988-fire-qa.pdf |title=The Greater Yellowstone Fires of 1988-Questions and Answers |publisher=Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee |date=February 2022 |access-date=February 23, 2022 |archive-date=December 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224094629/http://npshistory.com/publications/yell/1988-fire-qa.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Contrary to media reports and speculation at the time, the fires killed very few park animals—surveys indicated that only about 345 elk (of an estimated 40,000–50,000), 36 deer, 12 moose, 6 black bears, and 9 bison had perished. Changes in fire management policies were implemented by land management agencies throughout the United States, based on knowledge gained from the 1988 fires and the evaluation of scientists and experts from various fields. By 1992, Yellowstone had adopted a new fire management plan which observed stricter guidelines for the management of natural fires.<ref name="fires"/>