California's massive
Rim Fire
has now charred more than 192,000 acres, including 45,000 acres in
Yosemite National Park. But Yosemite isn't the only national park facing
the threat of wildfires. Across the western US,
rising temperatures,
past fire suppression policies,
and invasive species are increasing the fire risk—meaning some of
country's greatest natural treasures could one day go up in smoke.
Here are seven beautiful parks where the danger is very real.
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
Yellowstone National Park. And_Ant/Shutterstock
America's first national park is also one of the most threatened by
fire. Anthony Westerling, a wildfire expert at the University of
California, Merced's school of engineering, says that large blazes were
once relatively infrequent in the northern Rocky Mountains but that
climate change could dramatically increase fire activity in the
Yellowstone area.
In 2011, Westerling and his colleagues
found
that continued warming "could completely transform" fire activity in
the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, which includes the Yellowstone and
Grand Teton parks. In fact, by the middle of this century, both the
frequency of fires and the area burned could be greater than at any time
in the past 10,000 years. The researchers concluded that these changes
would result in a "real likelihood of Yellowstone's forests being
converted to nonforest vegetation during the mid-21st century" because
new trees wouldn't have a chance to grow between the increasingly
frequent fires.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
These Sierra Nevada parks, roughly 100 miles south of Yosemite, are facing
severe drought and "
extreme"
fire danger. Right now, "we're in the 'holy cow, things are dry'
stage," says park official Deb Schweizer, explaining that Sequoia and
Kings are currently operating under their highest level of campfire
restrictions.
The parks are best known for their giant sequoias—the same type of ancient trees that firefighters have been
scrambling to protect in Yosemite. Giant sequoias are a "fire-adapted" species that typically
benefits
from low-intensity ground fires—the trees' thick bark protects them
from flames, and the heat helps release their seeds. But massive blazes
like the one in Yosemite could be a different story.
Patrick Gonzalez, a climate change scientist with the National Park
Service, has been working with a team of researchers to analyze the
vulnerability of the parks' giant sequoias to a potential increase in
fire due to climate change. Gonzalez said in an email that "it is not
yet possible to say that climate change has increased fire danger" in
Sequoia. Still, he says, park officials are "considering how to adapt
their fire management practices" based on the research.
Glacier National Park
Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park. e X p o s e/Shutterstock
It's well known that this park's iconic glaciers are
threatened
by climate change. But officials at the park—in Montana's northern
Rockies, along the Canadian border— are also concerned about the
potential for increasing fires. According to a park service
publication,
temperatures in the Glacier area increasing nearly twice as fast as the
global average. The heat, combined with decreased snowfall and other
factors, could cause an "increase in frequency, size, and intensity of
wildfires." Glacier officials are worried that warmer weather is
worsening insect infestations—which in turn might weaken trees and make
them more vulnerable to fire. According to a recent Government
Accountability Office
report:
[P]ark staff said additional funding could
be used to address increased western spruce budworm infestations. This
insect normally infests trees for 3 years, but due to temperature
increases, its infestation period has lengthened to 7 to 15-year cycles,
according to park managers. As a result, hundreds of forested acres of
Glacier National Park have been weakened, which could increase their
susceptibility to fires.
Saguaro National Park
Saguaro cacti in Saguaro National Park. SNEHIT/Shutterstock
This desert park's namesake, the saguaro cactus, is "
severely threatened" by a highly flammable invasive plant called buffelgrass, according to the National Park Service.
Julio Betancourt, a scientist with the US Geological Survey, thinks
it's likely that warmer temperatures are playing a role in spreading
buffelgrass. He explains that beginning in the 1980s and '90s,
buffelgrass "exploded across the landscape," filling the Sonoran Desert
with fuel for small, intense fires that can transform the landscape.
"These fires burn hot," says Betancourt, "this is not something Saguaros
are going to survive."
After a fire, the buffelgrass regrows quickly, often thicker than
before. But saguaros—as well as other species native to the park—grow
very slowly and simply can't compete with the fire-adapted grass.
According to the park service,
"Many scientists believe that local extinctions of saguaros will occur
and the Sonoran Desert vegetation and wildlife will be changed forever."
Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park. agap/Shutterstock
Located in the California desert, Joshua Tree faces a similar threat
from invasive grasses—in this case, from red brome and cheatgrass.
According to the park service, these plants "made a major assault on the park" beginning in the 1990s and are fundamentally altering the ecosystem:
Formerly when lightning struck a Joshua
tree or juniper, it would consume that plant then burn out. Now the
grasses covering the ground carry the fire from the ignited plant on to
others.
Desert plants are not adapted to fire;
plant seeds do not require fire to break dormancy, nor do many of the
plants resprout after fire. We believe that larger fires do occur in
deserts, but historically only every century or so. Due to exotic
grasses, we are now seeing large fires, such as the Juniper Complex fire
that burned 14,000 acres in 1999, every five to 30 years in the Mojave.
As the threat of grass fires increases, says Betancourt, "Joshua Tree
National Park could very well become 'Red Brome National Park.'"
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