Life at the Blowdown

Life at the Blowdown. . , A Flourishing Forest , Peering into the forest today, you may see signs of ranging storms. Ravaged by wind and later by the Fires of ’88, the forest here looked devastated. But lodgepole pines are well suited to Yellowstone’s harsh climate and volcanic soils. The evidence grows each year., Lodgepole Life Cycle , Born in the Fires of ’88, the lodgepole pines here are thriving in ash-enriched soil. With serotinous cones on their branches, the trees are prepared for a firey day in the future – and will then bear a new generation., Beneath Stormy Skies , 1984 , A violent wind shear uprooted and toppled thousands of trees here. Seedlings emerged the following spring. , 1988 , Four years later, the Fires of ’88 roared through Yellowstone, more fierce and uncontrollable than the wind that drove them. When fire reached the blowdown, flames rapidly engulfed tinder-dry logs – and opened cones to release millions of seeds., Seeds of Renewal , 1989 , Lodgepole seedlings, strawberries, and grouse whortleberry emerged the following spring. , 1998 , By 1998, ten-year-old saplings had already grown several feet high.