YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — New research shows that dead trees in Yellowstone National Park may pose a greater fire danger than previously suspected.
As California reels from historic fire destruction, a study by researchers at the University of Wyoming shows a new danger of wildfire from standing, dead trees in Yellowstone.
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“These fires tend to concentrate along major travel corridors,” said Dr. Mehmet Ozdes, a Forest Ecology Researcher now at Clarkson University in Potsdam New York.
For much of the year, standing dead trees burn more readily than live trees, or even dead trees on the ground. This research, using data from NASA satellites and ground studies, shows there are a lot of those trees in some popular parts of the park.
Maps from the paper show that most park roads, shown in deep red, correlate almost exactly with the highest fire danger areas, shown in increasing intensity from yellow to red.
“What we didn't fully anticipate, for example, in here was that the scale of infrastructure exposed and in specific locations where this danger is most pronounced. We need more investment in fire mitigation strategies," Ozdes said.
With no explanation, the National Park Service turned down our request to talk to Yellowstone Wildland Firefighters about the study. But the researchers are offering some suggestions to park planners.
“This means things like fire resistance, buildings, materials, more accessible evacuation roads. A better public awareness campaign could contribute to the cause in terms of about human lives and environment," Ozdes explained.
Another of the maps shows that the areas most exposed to fire danger are along the west entrance road where both the big 1988 fire and the 2016 Maple fire burned. The large Madison campground is along that road.
Other hotspots are up in the northeast corner of the park, plus around Tower Junction, in the vicinity of park headquarters in Mammoth, and in a remote area on the far east side of the park.
Ozeds, who has done fire and other studies at National Parks in Africa and elsewhere said, “I was really excited to work on a park, like Yellowstone National Park, which is one of the most exciting and interesting parks in the world.”
Ozdes told us the researchers hope to do a follow-up study on how land management decisions made in the last 100 years are affecting current fire dangers in the park.
