Henry still lives just The inn was saved, outside the park, and frebut a number of other quents many of the sites buildings in the complex photo courtesy Jeff Henry, NPS he photographed during burned down. On the the summer fires. The fornorthern edge of the Lodgepole pine saplings sprout near Gibbon River in August 1998, 10 years after the Yellowstone fires. est is coming back, he says. park, officials declared martial law in Cooke City. Montana Gov. Ted of the burn was 793,880 acres. An estimated 300 an- stone was ruined, park officials recorded 2.6 million Even five years after the blaze, lodgepole saplings had sprouted in thick fields across much of the old burn. Schwinden chose Sept. 7 to announce a statewide ban imals perished, including nine bison and two visitors—the highest visitation rate for the 1980s. The political fallout was intense. Agencies began Twenty-five years later, most are more than six feet tall, moose. The price tag for firefighting efforts broke on all nonessential outdoor recreation. Not every post-Black Saturday story was quite nationwide records at $120 million. Despite several reexamining their fire policies, spurred by a fact-find- he says. Newcomers to certain areas of the park might so fraught. Scharfe laughs when he remembers an close calls, only two people died—one pilot and one ing mission launched by President Ronald Reagan in not even recognize that the forest burned that recently. Yellowstone while the fires were still burning. Bader Nature took its course in ’88, he says, and Yellowstone assignment he had driving supplies to the Firehole firefighter from the Bureau of Land Management. says that was part of the “post-fire hangover,” and the is now growing anew. Tracking the regeneration of the Public perception held that the park was irrevarea. Most of the roads were closed, and he found constant arguments that broke out during and after forest inspired Henry to put together a book, The Year ocably damaged, and that no one would want to himself on a dirt track surrounded on all sides the summer of ’88 “dampened my enthusiasm for Yellowstone Burned, which is due out next spring. visit again. But even as early as September 1988, by fire. “The flames are, like, right out the window,” grass was peeking through the ash near the Norris going back.” Despite McCutcheon’s glowing appraisal Henry says he wouldn’t have missed shooting the fires and recommendation that “for all the tea in China.” Scharfe says. “It’s just a little dirt road, and it is Museum. The resin Bader be promoted to a packed inside lodgepole “It makes me wish I could live a lot longer than cranking, man. Really, really rolling. And I see this position as a resource I’m going to live,” he adds, “because I’d love to conpinecones had melted copper coming with his lights toward me. He pulls management supervisor, tinue to watch the progression.” right in front of me, stops and says, ‘Get the hell under extreme heat, as Bader didn’t return to Yelnature intended, releasScharfe has returned several times, too, though out of here! You can’t get through there. I’m just lowstone the following he says he steers clear of discussions on the fire ing the seeds and allowlucky I got through.’ So I turned that thing around. summer. Instead, he took policy controversy. The Yellowstone fires tend to ocI was thinking the paint was blistering on the ing them to spread a job as executive director cupy less of prominent space in his mind. Given his across the forest floor. At truck.” for the newly founded Al- military service and years with the Chicago Fire DeBy Sept. 10, residents and employees in Mam- the time, Bader says, liance for the Wild Rock- partment, he says he’d already lived a pretty full life some wondered if the moth were evacuated. The next day, it snowed nearly ies. Bader turned his by age 61. fires had simply been three inches throughout the park. Bader remembers experience on the Yellowtoo much all at once. “It’s a young man’s game, for sure,” he says of throwing a huge party in one of the maintenance stone fires into a call for fighting wildfires. “But you’d bust your hump with the “I went on a backshacks at Norris, complete with a banner that said widespread governmental Pulaskis, stretch a lot of line, do a lot of back burns. “Snow.” Park officials began demobilizing fire camps country patrol to cut change. Specifically, he’s It was a good experience.” trees off the trail, take inon Sept. 12, making sure to keep some crews around raised the issue of formventory of sites and so Bader doesn’t have the dreams nearly as often anyfor mop-up work. ing a permanent federal more. They’ve faded even as he’s traveled to Yellow“It was real deflating,” Bader says. “It was anti-cli- forth, and I walked Fire Command Corps to stone to watch the regrowth. At the time, he called mactic. The thrill was gone in some ways. There was through one area that more effectively launch Yellowstone “the Cecil B. DeMille of forest fires. You had burned really heava lot left to do. … So much of our district, over united efforts to fight know, the guy that had the cast of thousands?” Now it’s ily,” Bader says. “I was in 100,000 acres of our subdistrict alone, burned. I got wildfires. ash about eight or 10 an experience he finds difficult to share with those who after it right away. No time to lose.” “In some ways it weren’t there, and a defining moment in his own life. inches deep, this fine Bader fought the fires from July 21 to Sept. 29 brought people together,” “You felt like you were a part of something,” Bader with just one day off. His firefighting timecards show powdered ash. There photo courtesy National Park Service Bader says of the ’88 fires. says. “I’ve testified in front of Congress on wilderness he worked a total of 432.5 hours on fire-specific as- was nothing green in signments—not counting shift breaks or his regular sight for a long ways and A helicopter drops water on the Lama Fire He feels the severity of the and a lot of other stuff. I’ve been on national TV, on summer taught govern- CNN. But you can never really explain [the Yellowstone ranger duties like directing traffic and patrolling the I thought, ‘Oh my god, I during the summer of 1988. mental agencies like the fires] to people. I think some people understand it, but can’t believe this.’ But park’s roads. Park Service and the Forest people who weren’t there might have a hard time unI’ve seen pictures from Service that they need to band together in this era of derstanding why it was so important.” the same area, and only three weeks later there was Sprouts in the ash drier summers, longer fire seasons and tighter budgalready grass sprouting all over out of that ash.” A total of 51 fires swept through Yellowstone ets. “Nobody can sail alone,” he says. The following summer, despite fears that Yellowasakariassen@missoulanews.com between June and November, 1988. The final tally
[18] Missoula Independent • August 22–August 29, 2013