Tragic and Destructive North American Wildfires - 1950 to Present

By Steve Nix, About.com Guide

The National Park Service allowed June lightning-caused fires to burn until July 14, 1988 in Yellowstone National Park. Park policy was to let all natural caused fire continue to burn. The worst fire in the history of the park had burned only 25,000 acres until then. Thousands of firefighters responded to the blaze in order to prevent valuable structures from burning.

No serious effort was made to extinguish the fires, and many burned until the arrival of autumn rains. Ecologists argued that fire is part of the Yellowstone ecosystem, and that not allowing the fires to run their course would result in a choked, sick, and decaying forest. The National Park Service now has a policy of prescribed burning to prevent another dangerous buildup of flammable materials.

Because of this "let the fires burn" policy, fires in Wyoming and Montana burned across almost one million acres in and around Yellowstone National Park . Taxpayers finally paid $120 million to fight the fires of Yellowstone. Compare that to the park's annual budget of $17.5 million.

NIFC Case Study: Yellowstone Fires
Wildland Fires in Yellowstone