A Voyage of Discovery: Betsy and Bubba on the Road

I’m having my first personal experience with living with fire. Some years ago, when Sarah, Benjamin and I went to the Hopi Reservation on a community service trip with Global Citizens Network, we had a taste of fire. The fires were a hundred miles away, but the smoke hung below the mesa where we were living, and I would wake in the night to the scent of fire approaching, in the morning, to slightly stinging eyes. We visited the Grand Canyon that summer, and could not use an open flame in our campground to cook, because of the high fire danger.

The kids and I first came to Yellowstone in 1992, 4 years after the devastating fires that had consumed more than a million acres in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. My perspective has mostly been that of a fascinated observer, wondering at the recovery of the forests, the unique mechanisms of the lodgepole pines to release seeds after the heat of fire, the flowers and grasses emerging in the newly lighted burned forests. I’ve seen the film footage of the valiant efforts of the firefighters, even visited the gulch on the Missouri River where smokejumpers died in a horrific fire (read Norman MacLean’s Young Men and Fire), but I’ve certainly never felt the vulnerability.

On July 17 a fire began in a lodgepole pine forest about ten miles west-northwest of where I am living and working. The fire was started by a lightning strike. One of the frequent phenomena here is the “dry thunderstorm”, one that sweeps through with lots of thunder and lightning but no water. The area where the fire began is in the heart of the 1988 fire, but a small pocket that was unaffected, so there’s plenty of fuel for the fire. Unlike our New England forests, the forests here experience relatively little rot and decomposition of downed material because it is so arid. The Park Service’s position on fire was highly controversial during the 1988 fires which were a media sensation. An exhibit in the Grant Village Visitor’s Center highlights the sensitivity of the topic with the Park Service folks, who were widely chastised for allowing Yellowstone to burn. In fact, the current Park Service position makes a lot of sense to me. Fire is an inherent natural part of the functioning of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Those fires that are of natural (i.e. not man-made) origin are permitted to burn, although attempts are made to protect buildings and archaeological resources. Of course, in populated areas, every effort is made to protect life and property, and trails are closed in the area of fires, but fires, while monitored, are allowed to burn.

Currently the fire, known as the Magpie Fire, has burned somewhere around 850 acres. The humidity was higher for several days this week, and not much wind encouraging the growth. Even so, several nights I awoke in the camper to the smell of smoke and a burning in my eyes. Today, the air dried out and the wind arose; we’ll see what that means for the fire tomorrow. The webcam on the top of Mount Washburn is aimed toward the fire, although it’s rather difficult to discern much because of the glass reflections. Take a look over the next couple of days though; you may see the smoke if the fire expands.(www.yellowstone.net/webcamlive4.htm) The fire is still miles from me, but, accustomed as I might be to northeasters and hurricanes, fire is a whole new animal, and it’s unsettling, gives me a sense of some trepidation when I see a column of smoke arising or wake to the smell.

Early in the season, many of my co-workers and rangers, seasoned veterans of the park, expressed concern that the snow pack was melting too fast and that this would, despite a reasonable snowfall during the winter, be one of extreme fire hazard. I pretty much poohpoohed their concerns. After all, we still had a foot or two of snow on the ground, we had a frost each night, we were pretty well snowed in for Memorial Day. Still another reminder that I have to learn to be open-minded. Now, in July, we are experiencing the same heat wave that is causing deaths from Fresno to France. Admittedly it’s still tolerable at Lake, at 7800 feet. But my weekly trips to visit with Maybelline in Gardiner certainly were not productive in terms of our work together this week, with temperatures in the high 90s. And fires are burning in eastern Montana, and in the Livingston area due north of Gardiner as well as in the park. And the snow on peaks traditionally covered at this time of year is absent altogether or evidenced by daily dwindling patches in the high elevations. Even to a casual visitor like myself, there’s noticeably less snow in the Crazy Mountains, to the east of the G-M Ranch where the kids and I have spent some wonderful time. Currently, understand there’s a major fire in Galcier National Park. The North Rim of the Gand Canyon was evacuated earlier this season.

The consensus, from those willing to speak in the National Park Service, from scientists around the world, is that we are well past the tipping point, that we are in the throes of, dare I say it, an extinction event. We have put into place a set of conditions that are accelerating daily the extinction of species, the destruction of habitat, the unravelling of the functioning of ecosystems. The question before us today is not whether global warming is taking place, but rather whether we can apply our technological skills to slow down or reverse the process. And yet our national leadership is still asking whether global warming is taking place.

Certainly our own consumptive behaviors are a contributor to the process. The energy cost of having fresh gourmet lettuces throughout the year, the need for the newest appliances, the yearly or seasonal readornment through new wardrobes…the list goes on and on. Admittedly the extinction event is one in geologic time, if perhaps short term geologic time, and will not happen in my lifetime. But the changes have already occurred and in a dramatic fashion during my lifetime. I can only change the portion of the world in which I live, and that, through my own consumption habits. I’ve learned, during the last six months of living in a van, how little I really need, and how unimportant it is what I really want. I am interested to see whether my commitment today to living more simply, to consuming less, to reducing my footprint on the earth, will carry over when I’m living once again with indoor plumbing.

What I need to do now is return to documenting my time here in the park, which will end all too soon. This opportunity may not present itself again, and I need to take full advantage of my opportunities to observe and learn from what I observe. This morning, Bubba and I surprised a red foxwe’ve met before, and watched three mule deer, all without leaving the loop of the RV Park on which I live. The seasons are changing again, the bull bison have begun their rut, and I have to get out and watch it all unfold while I still can.

Sarah reminded me today when I spoke on the phone with her that I hadn’t written for nearly a month. As a kid, I had legion diaries that had two or three entries followed by a long gap and then an entry that sought to catch up on the last month, or year…the efforts always ended with my being overwhelmed and abandoning the project. But my project goes on, so I will not try to catch up, just make a few observations pertinent to the Fourth of July.

The Lake Yellowstone area celebrated the Fourth quietly. To the chagrin of many of our guests, there were no fireworks. Needless to say, fireworks and wildlife aren’t all that compatible. And more about the danger of fires later. But we did have a Fourth of July Parade. Bristol it wasn’t, but it had a certain unique charm.

The anticipating throng was entertained as we waited on the lakeshore by a browsing bison moseying along the parade route. Of course, it required the front office manager leaving the hotel to remind some of the denser members of the crowd to stay away from the bison. But finally the parade arrived….

I spent my Fourth working an eight hour shift at the Hotel desk, then heading over to the Fishing Bridge Visitor’s Center where I volunteer a couple of shifts a week for the National Park Service. The NPS is understaffed and overwhelmed with the incredible task of managing this place. Volunteers are essential to their ability to communicate with the public, and it’s a lot of fun besides. I particularly delight in the Junior Ranger program, getting kids excited about participating and awarding others their Junior Ranger badges. Sarah and Benjamin did the program in 1992 when we first came out here, and Sarah still has her badge, I’m not sure about Benj. In fact, the program requires that the kids attend a ranger-led program, and I am now working with the ranger who did the program the kids and I attended in 1992.

I don’t know how much impact this little program had upon Sarah in her developing interest in the natural sciences, but she certainly has remembered it fondly. I like to think that we will have a similar effect on the kids I welcome to the program now.

I spend another afternoon a week volunteering at the Heritage Center in Gardiner while I’m up visiting Maybelline. The Heritage Center is a part of the National Archives, full of treasures formerly stored in a sometimes flooded basement. Finally these treasures are in a climate controlled and properly preserved environment, built and opened last year. But they are desperately understaffed, and can man their front desk, a security position, only with volunteers. So each week I spend a half day there, reviewing some fascinating archaeology reports and asking people for ids.

I’ve long tried to understand what is important to our policy makers and administrators on the national level. I’ve usually found myself out of step with the mainstream. As I get older, I seem to find myself farther out of step, just not marching with the rhythm of the band. And as I spend more time in the Park, only one of the many treasures in this country, I find myself getting angrier about our national priorities as expressed by the current administration and Congress. I see here a deteriorating infrastructure, a staff trying desperately, and with great dedication, to perform all that is expected of it: safety of the public, wildlife conservation, fire prevention, law enforcement,, education, archaeological research. An effective supporting foundation has raised a great deal of money for the Park, and I feel some ambivalence about its efficacy. When Congress sees milllions raised by this group, it can easily say “Why does Yellowstone need our dollars?” The Foundation raised more than $15 million toward the cost of design and construction of a new visitors center and educational facility at Old Faithful. The response from Congress was that they wanted the money to go through Congress if more than a million was raised in the future. So the Yellowstone Park Foundation will limit its contributions in the future to $1 million, in order to insulate itself and its efforts in the park from political pressure.

Our national parks are treasures in every regard. They are a preservation of our natural and cultural resources. They are a laboratory for the study of earth sciences, for efforts to manage biodiversity. They present an opportunity for us to experience firsthand our history, our proper place in the world. And for those of us who are so inclined, they are a place for us to find peace, a sense of our place in the cosmos, an opportunity to communicate with or sense the presence of a Higher Power.

One day of our war budget would make an incredible difference in our nation’s ability to preserve and protect these priceless resources. One day! Our national budget for preservation of these treasures is a pittance. And, of course, our administration doesn’t even include the war budget in our national budget, it’s all in supplemental appropriations, in what strikes me as a pretty transparent effort (supported tacitly by the Fourth Estate, our moribund press) to keep the public from noticing how our future is being mortgaged. We have lost the respect of the world. Today, I read in the Times online of the frustration expressed by UN envoys from around the world who have been trying to effect management reforms in that organization. Their efforts have been undermined and blown apart by our representative, the tactful and considerate Ambassador Bolton. In the face of overwhelming science on global warming (and more about that later) we deny that the science is there, and our administration applauds itself for its efforts to seek more funding for studies to see if there is such a thing as global warming.

Whose ends are being served here? Not the young men and women who are being sent to die in a dubious effort managed by civilian leadership run amok without regard for the expertise and input of the military. Not the people living in poverty, whose lot has continuously grown worse in the past six years.Not the millions of Americans living without access to health care. Not our children who are the victims of the callously cynical “No child left behind” charade. Not our elderly, who have been hoodwinked and robbed with the current Medicare prescription program. And not our priceless natural resources.

I don’t have an answer for us. I am currently reading the case for impeachment and Brookhiser’s book on what the founding fathers would do. And I am looking forward to a trip to the big city (Bozeman) to see Al Gore’s movie on global warming, highly recommended by Sarah. I can continue to inform myself. I can make choices in where I spend my money and how, in what lifestyle choices I make. And I can continue to talk with people who agree and those who disagree with me, to try to learn what I can, to understand where we can make changes. I do know that our founding fathers did not intend that this country be run for the benefit of the few, to the disadvantage of the masses and the squandering of our resources, natural resources, manpower resources, and financial resources.

So a little late, Happy Fourth of July. Please join me in thinking about what our democracy should mean, and what is important for you to preserve in that democracy.