This season will mark twenty years since the infamous Yellowstone National Park wildfires of 1988. Two decades ago, park employees and local residents watched as the flames (mostly caused by lightning strikes, but some by cigarette buts and other human carelessness) began to take hold. Soon, it was national and then global news. One of the most famous U.S. national parks and favorite summer destinations was rapidly going up in flames.

After the blazes had consumed 1.4 million acres of the Yellowstone eco system (800,000 within the park itself), politicians and residents thought it would take hundreds if not thousands of years for the park to make a full recovery. However, what many saw as absolutely devastating, park officials, biologists and wildlife specialists knew was a necessary occurrence in the life span of any wild country. Wildfire is often considered Mother Nature's way of rejuvenating our wild lands. Tall lodgepoles charred in the '88 fires now create a type of nursery for seedlings and saplings. In addition, lodgepole pines have tightly bound cones that can't open until they're exposed to heat, hence the one-million lodgepole seeds per acre after the burn.  

Even though the initial impact of the post-fire winter (harsh and cold without the protection of trees and other vegetation), the wildlife made a quick rally, entering the following years stronger and better adapted to the colder climes. Very few animals were unable to escape the flames and wildlife populations actually remained quite stable during and after the fires.

All told, 248 fires burned that summer. However, the eco system has returned plentifully. Many of the lodge pole pines that did burn still stand, creating their own ecological story as they tower over the seedlings that have since taken hold and continue to grow beneath them. Wildlife still flourishes. On any given day in Yellowstone, it's not uncommon to see bison, elk, deer, eagles, black and grizzly bears, and even the occasional wolf. Old Faithful still gives visitors a show as it shoots toward the sky throughout the day.

Despite the record flames that tore through the park that summer, its landmark beauty and unparalleled wildlife experience continue to flourish today. Twenty years later, Yellowstone continues to be the most memorable stop on any summer roadtrip.