The Fire

In 1988 a fire burned about 3/4 of Yellowstone Park. Yellowstone Lodge was almost lost in the fire.  The park management now spends a lot of time talking about how the fire was good for Yellowstone.  At the campfire programs you are sure to hear a speech about how  fire is a  part of the natural environment, blah, blah, blah.  You  will never hear the other side of the story, that fires can be managed and that maybe the Forest Service was incompetent in 1988.  

We went on hikes where we could see that the forest has recovered nicely, in fact much of the forest lands that were burned down are  now quite beautiful.  We also saw places where  it looks  like the scars from the fire will never heal.  Fire management  is not an area where  I have  expertise but my gut feeling is that the forest service could have done a better job of managing  the fire in 1988 and  it still does not have a good fire management plan in place.