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THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE AREA
FIRES OF 1988: RECOVERY
Henry F. Shovic
they were in the beginning days of Yellowstone Park.
Over 4,000 military personnel helped the thousands
of firefighters already committed to suppression and
rehabilitation.
When the flames were finished, large areas looked like
a blackened wasteland. The media and others called it
"a biological desert," "a moonscape," a "destroyed ecology."
But was that true? Is it true today, a year after? My purpose today is to talk about what really happened in the
GYA during the fires of 1988, and what is happening today. I will speak as a soil scientist, but also as a participant in the greatest and most visible fire suppression and
recovery efforts this Country has ever seen. My information comes from many sources. Part comes from personal
experience and research, but much comes from the many
specialists (both Forest Service and Park Service) and
scientists working in the GYA. These people have been
working hard on postfire research and monitoring to address the effects, and I appreciate their willingness to
give me the data I needed to address the overall picture
for you.
ABSTRACT
The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) fires of 1988 were of
unprecedented scope and magnitude. Short- and long-term
effects of these fires are presented for watershed, soils, and
revegetation. Though there has been short-term erosion
and sedimentation, overall there are probably insignificant
long-term effects in the GYA.
INTRODUCTION
The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) is made up of parts
of six National Forests and two National Parks, and assorted State and private lands. The portion in Federal
ownership is about 11.7 million acres, within three
States-Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Much of the
area is nationally recognized recreation country. Wildlife
resources and habitats are highly valued, both in terms of
the species mix and in the great diversity of environments.
Water resources include the headwaters of five major river
systems, with high water quality and premium fish habitat. There are timber and mineral resources on National
Forest and private lands. The scenery is unparalleled,
ranging from the Tetons, through the rolling wilderness
of Yellowstone, to the jagged peaks of the Absaroka range
in the Gallatin and Custer Forests. The largest and most
active hydrothermal areas in the world are in Yellowstone
Park. Many people work in the GYA in jobs ranging from
timber production to tourism. All in all, it is wonderful
place to work, play, and live.
However, not all was perfect in paradise in 1988. As
is usual in the GYA, some forest fires started in June and
July. These fires, however, grew to sizes that were not
usual. Fire behavior exceeded all predictions as July,
August, and September came and went. Wind, drought,
and vegetation types combined to produce unheard of fire
behavior. Nighttime flames were more than 10 feet high,
as winds drove fires through willows and other normally
moist vegetation. Canopy fires made daily runs measured
in miles, and surface fires burned through forests that
normally are highly resistant to burning. The fires threatened almost all developed areas in Yellowstone Park and
communities bordering Yellowstone and the Gallatin,
Custer, Shoshone, and Targhee Forests.
Some unusual humor was generated during this intense
activity. "Cooke City" signs were modified to read "Cooked
City." The military was once again called in to help, as
COORDINATION AND ROLES
The various administrative units have created a committee charged with increasing coordination and communication between them, called the Greater Yellowstone
Coordinating Committee (GYCC). It is made up of six
National Forest Supervisors, two National Park Superintendents, three Forest Service Regional Foresters, and
one Park Service Regional Director. As part of its coordinating role, the committee completed the Greater
Yellowstone Area Aggregation of Management Plans.
Its objective is to illustrate the goals of and relationships
between NationalPark and National Forest management,
along with displaying the resource values within the
GYA. The committee also has published the GYA Briefing Guide, a summary of resources, administration, management philosophies, and future directions.
Currently the GYCC is applying effort to draft a "vision
for the future." The major challenge in this effort is to
protect the values associated with the GYA and its various units, while continuing to provide products and services consistent with their management directives and
legislated objectives. This vision is being developed in
terms of Goals (the desired future conditions of the GYA),
and Coordinating Criteria (the ways the Goals will be
reached). Your input is solicited to help make this product the best possible one. After initial drafting and public
input, the GYCC is producing a "draft vision" to be released for additional public comment in late spring of
1990. Then, a final document will be completed in late
Paper prepared for the Symposium on Management and Productivity
of Westem-Montane Forest Soils, Boise, 10, April 10-12, 1990.
Henry F. Shovie is Soil Scientist for the Ganatin National Forest,
Yellowstone National Park, and Grand Teton National Park, located
at the Gallatin National Forest, Box 130, Bozeman, MT 59715.
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fall or early winter. The next steps are to compare existing
management plans to these Goals, and make amendments
and revisions to the plans as necessary.
My position in the GYA is as an interagency soil scientist, working both for the Forest Service and the Park
Service. This position is in the true spirit of the GYA,
as part of my job involves improving coordination, cooperation, and communication between the units in which
I work. I have been asked to initiate a soil survey for
Yellowstone National Park and for parts of Grand Teton
National Park. I am doing project services, particularly
in site restoration for Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks.
I provide soils input for Forest Plan implementation activities for the Gallatin Forest. I have also acted as an informal "GYA" soil scientist during the fires (and now, for that
matter), doing fire/soil interpretations, burned-area mapping, and rehabilitation. I held the first GYA soil scientist
meeting in 1986, and we are repeating that meeting this
year. Giving soils tours has often brought managers together for informal talks that otherwise may not have
occurred.
So what did I do during the fires of 1988? In the early
part of the summer I did what most soil scientists do; that
is, dig soil pits in out-of-the-way places. I ran the soil/
watershed/geothermal group in the Division of Research
at Yellowstone and did numerous projects for the Gallatin
Forest. However, the fires changed all that. What looked
like snow on buildings at Old Faithful was actually a blanket of fire retardant as buildings were foamed down to protect them from the flames. This represents my change in
orientation as I left the soil survey to become responsible
for numerous projects, such as burned area mapping, fire/
soil interpretations, emergency rehabilitation, initial fire/
soil research, and information transfer. My team and I did
infiltration and erosion tests using rainmaking equipment.
We sampled for "depth of char" (depth of soil heating) in
thousands oflocations. We sampled well into the winter
for the most important soil features that would affect revegetation and erosion.
survey, designed for initial predictions and assessment
of rehabilitation needs.
We completed a more detailed survey for Yellowstone
Park in December of 1989, again emphasizing interagency cooperation, and mapping to a finer scale. This
is titled "Burned Area Survey of Yellowstone National
Park." The mapping base was a combination of LANDSAT imagery and digital information from aerial photographs. This was done to provide Yellowstone management with the detailed information needed to predict
effects on its resources and as a research aid. Completion
of this project would not have been possible without the
use of a Geographic Information System, purchased by
Yellowstone Park after the fires.
Predictions were given on revegetation and erosion
potential for both projects. Though fires were of spectacular intensity, actual severity of soil heating was low to
moderate throughout the GYA. Depth of char ranged
from 0 to 4 cm. We predicted that erosion, stream sedimentation, and effects on fish habitat would not be significant, given a normal water year and the emergency
rehabilitation efforts accomplished. Also, revegetation
would not be delayed due to soil damage. Burned areas
in the Shoshone National Forest, however, had more
severe soil effects, due to topography, weather, and vegetation. These differences affected revegetation, erosion,
and stream sedimentation. Predictions for the Shoshone
were for more severe effects.
REHABILITATION WORK AND
RESULTS
Now I would like to give you a unit-by-unit description
of fire effects and major rehabilitation efforts. Some
units, like the Bridger, carried out only a small program
of rehabilitation. Others required a considerable effort.
This was because of the variation in resource loss potential. I will speak about National Forest lands first.
National Forest Lands
FIRE EXTENT AND SEVERITY
Forest Service philosophy in emergency rehabilitation
is to protect resource values. Emergency measures are
taken when there is significant potential for loss of soil
and onsite productivity, loss of water control and deterioration of water quality, or threats to life and property
on- or offsite. For the GYA Forests, efforts were based
on the Preliminary Burned Area Survey and additional
field investigations.
The Gallatin and Custer Forests had about 126,400
acres of burned area, all in Wilderness. Rehabilitation
efforts were coordinated by the Gallatin. About 4,000
acres were seeded with cereal rye, a short-lived, vigorous
grass. Streamsides were seeded because fires had burned
to the water's edge, and rapid vegetative recovery was
needed to prevent excessive sediment reaching streams
in a short period of time. One hundred and fifty miles
of trails were cleared and waterbars were installed. We
needed this to access the areas and to prevent trails from
becoming gullies or stream channels as bare slopes shed
rainfall. Log erosion barriers CLEB's) were installed on
So what were the effects in the GYA? Was the area a
moonscape? Were the Forests and Parks destroyed forever? Were erosion and stream sedimentation going to be
catastrophic? What rehabilitation was needed, and what
good would it do? To answer these questions, I would like
to begin by giving you a perspective on the fires' extent,
and severity. Then I will deal with the immediate effects
and finally talk about the long-range ones.
"How much burned" was a critical question. To answer
that, I undertook an emergency project to map the extent,
severity, and distribution of the fires. This was completed
in 3 weeks in late September of 1988. The project, sponsored by the GYCC, was an interagency one, with cooperation from the Forest Service, Park Service, NASA, and
other agencies. Acreage burned is given in the document
"Preliminary Burned Area Survey of Yellowstone Park
and Surrounding National Forests." A map is included,
and the information is available on USGS quadrangles
and in an electronic format. This was a reconnaissance
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400 acres of steep, burned area above Cooke City and
Silver Gate to reduce rill erosion and encourage infiltration. Postfire monitoring indicated that the cereal rye provided a good surface cover where seeded in blackened areas. Unburned meadows had very little competition from
the rye. Waterbars were effective, but now will need maintenance to keep them functional until slopes revegetate.
Slopes with installed LEB's had very little slope wash and
were covered with a dense growth of rye. Future erosion
should be minimal, given normal precipitation patterns.
The Targhee National Forest had about 11,300 acres
of burned area. Most of this area was on rolling or gently
sloping land. Seeding on 800 acres of steep, burned slopes
was moderately successful in germination. About 60 miles
of bulldozer lines were seeded also. Though the burn had
no measurable or lasting effects on water quality to date,
there were significant local erosional events because of a
series of intense thunderstorms that moved through the
area in August. These produced significant erosion and
stream channel scour in Moose Creek, Thirsty Creek, and
Lucky Dog Creek.
The Bridger-Teton Forest had about 157,700 acres of
burned area. This was all in Wilderness, and no seeding
was recommended. A few trails were cleared. There has
not been significant sedimentation in this area to date.
There is some potential for localized erosion on steep slopes
if there are unusual precipitation events.
The Shoshone National Forest had about 118,800 acres
of burned area. Here, soil heating was more intense than
in other areas, probably due to higher fuel loadings, canyon
topography, and weather. Depth of char was 5-10 cm in
many areas, and revegetation is delayed due to charring
of belowground plant parts. Water repellency persisted
through the winter, and many areas still have this property. The Shoshone Forest helicopter seeded 23,000 acres
with a native seed mix. Trails were cleared and waterbars
installed. Though these measures undoubtedly reduced
some erosion, the severe thunderstorm events of August
produced major channel scour, debris torrents, and rill erosion largely from slopes in the Jones Creek and Lodgepole
Creek drainages. Postfire monitoring indicates that water
repellency is persisting, vegetative recovery is variable,
and erosion will probably continue for at least 5 years.
Further seeding is not recommended, but extensive trail
maintenance is needed to prevent further erosion.
National Park Lands
National Park lands are managed under different
constraints than Forest lands. They are managed as a
"natural" system, at least as far as feasible. Their directives dictate the preservation of the natural processes,
while providing for public use. Protection of developed
areas, visitors, and downstream uses is considered in
rehabilitation decisions, as well as cost-effectiveness
and feasibility.
About 773,000 acres in Yellowstone Park were affected
by fire. Soil heating was quite uniform across the burned
areas. Almost all the area had moderate-to-Iow soil heating, and predictions of revegetation were optimistic. There
were some unusual soil effects in hydrothermal areas, such
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as where molten sulfur flows occurred due to ignition by
fire brands.
To date, revegetation has been spectacular, with fields
of wildflowers and grasses replacing blackened soils. Revegetation is not as obvious at higher elevations, as there
are less forbs and grasses, shorter growing seasons, and
more shade.
We were fortunate to have an ongoing sedimentation!
turbidity study in place for 3 years before 1988. Results
for 1988 showed no measurable increase in sedimentation
from the fires, at least in the northern third of the Park.
However, there were days when some streams ran black
as dissolved ash entered the system. These events did not
significantly affect fisheries. Water repellency in soils was
high both on burned and unburned areas, probably due to
the extreme dryness of the soils during the drought. This
water repellency largely disappeared over the winter of
1988-89. Erosion has been minimal, with the following
exceptions.
In August, a series of intense thunderstorms created
debris torrents near Gibbon Falls and Madison Junction.
I involved Forest Service and USGS research personnel in
an evaluation of these events. Reports indicate these torrents were caused by a combination of steep slopes, very
coarse-textured soils, intense rainfall, and bare surfaces
due to low vegetation cover and the fires. These are localized events, and eroded material did not significantly affect
fisheries. Road maintenance and safety were problems for
a few weeks. There were no significant effects on thermal
features other than the sulfur flows.
Park Service officials authorized some logging along
roadsides to prevent logfalls on roadways, and to improve
esthetics of the road corridors. Forty-one miles of bulldozer
lines were made near West Yellowstone and Cooke City as
part of suppression efforts. About 39 miles of bulldozer line
have been restored. We returned topsoil, brush, and logs
to the sites. Emphasis was on restoring original site characteristics to as close to the undisturbed condition as possible. Five hundred of a total of 575 miles of hand-built
fireline have also been rehabilitated. However, more hand
line is probably present in the backcountry, and will be
restored when located.
Visitor education has been emphasized. Soil/vegetation!
fire exhibits have been set up throughout the Park. I have
made numerous field trips and presentations for visitors
and staff. We have also done winter field trips to show
depth of char and burn patterns.
Grand Teton Park had only a small area affected by fire
(2,700 acres in the John D. Rockefeller Parkway). However, there is potential for more fires in the future, particularly in the northern part of the Park. There were other
small fires in this unit, but they were of small extent and
had no significant effects on soil/water resources. Extent
of soil heating and revegetation are similar to those discussed earlier. As part of the postfire research, I am initiating a soil/vegetation survey of the Parkway. Dick
Marston at the University of Wyoming has done some
postfire work on channel changes in the Snake River
and on soil erosion. His preliminary findings indicate
that soil erosion potential has increased somewhat, but
is unlikely to result in catastrophic erosion on slopes.
have little short-term erosion potential due to the moderate fire severity and rehabilitation efforts. Early-stage
vegetation succession is proceeding as predicted. In 10
years, the blackened soil will be gone as microorganisms,
frost, and plants do their work.
In the long run, these fires probably have had insignificant impacts on the area. In fact, they are an essential
part of the GYA ecology. The present vegetation patterns
are partially a result of past fires that return at long intervals. The stream systems, the fish, the wildlife, and
soils have evolved in harmony with these events and vary
as they always have in response to disturbances, like the
fires. If I can leave you with a summary thought, it is
that after the smoke has cleared, the GYA is alive and
well. Its impressive scenery, wildlife, timber, and other
resources are, in the long run, left unimpaired for future
generations to conserve and preserve in the spirit of the
Greater Yellowstone.
He has indicated that no channel changes were detectable
as a result of the fires, but there are probably significant
changes as a long-term result of the Jackson Lake dam.
Rehabilitation efforts in the Grand Teton Park emphasize visitor education. I have given soil/revegetation
training for-Park staff.
SUMMARY
In summary, you can see there have been short-term
effects of the fires of 1988. The most obvious is that the
area looks different. Though this is the most apparent,
I have shown today that there are also effects in revegetation, erosion, and short-term sedimentation. This information is a direct result of postfire monitoring and research in the units of the GYA. The erosional events were
generally localized and resulted from unusual precipitation occurrences. Some areas will produce significant
sediment for some time, but the vast majority oflands
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