Yellowstone National Park is home to the headwaters of multiple major rivers and hundreds of waterfalls. The waters comprise one of the largest nearly intact temperate ecosystems in the world. The fires of 1988 burned more than a third of the national park and left very few watersheds that were not impacted, according to National Park Service hydrologist Erin White. However, the fires at Yellowstone also allowed the National Park Service, scientists, and firefighters to gain a better understanding of wildfire as a vital ecological process.
Read more in this story from Wyoming Public Media.
Print