you are here:  Yellowstone National Park photos & tips> wildlife - fire

Yellowstone National Park: fire

Fire is an integral part of life in Yellowstone:  so much so, that certain cones of the lodgepole pine (the park's dominant tree) open up only during fires to spread their seeds. 

The enormous fire of 1988 is still much remembered: eight fires burned  793,800 acres of the Park. Each year, an average of 22 fires is started in Yellowstone by lightning; and a major fire, as in 1988, has occurred every 300 to 400 years for the past 10,000 years. 

• continue to park ranger program. 
• back to Wilidlife

Take me to more Yellowstone photos & tips: 

All Images (c) 2001 by Teresa Plowright.