“These are important milestones,” said Bob Ekey, a former newspaper reporter who covered the fires. “It forever changed our frame of thinking about wildfire, big wildfires.”
Former Yellowstone superintendent Bob Barbee agreed.
This year, the Yellowstone National Park public information office has fielded numerous inquiries from the media seeking access to park personnel for interviews about the fire anniversary.
“There have been calls from easily 50 different media outlets, and it's early,” said Al Nash, the Yellowstone National Park spokesman. “Later in the summer, toward the time the fire was at its peak, I think we'll get greater interest in August and around Labor Day.”
Because the requests were so numerous, the agency decided to make certain personnel available once a week for interviews, arranging field trips and conference calls on different topics. Otherwise, the park workers wouldn't have time to get their own work done, Nash said.
“It's our way to recognize that this is important to people here and elsewhere,” Nash said. “We're helping them get a picture of where we are 20 years after. It's another great story about how we protect nature at work.”
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