Show Yellowstone survives Media hyperbole exaggerated damages Dear Editor Entering Yellowstone National National National Na Na- Park one year after the worst fires in the parks park's history history history his his- tory one would expect to be driving into another world As you go deeper and deeper into the park you realize how exaggerated the media truly is Reporters covering the fires must have expended a great amount of energy to toI I portray the fires as a comI complete com corn I holocaust I like the general public had only the press coverage to form an opinion about the so called Fire Management I Plan It was totally unbelievable unbelievable unbelievable able to me that the Park Service Service Ser Ser- vice would aIlo allow Jh the fires s t to H Hv v rage out of control when in fact the Fire Management Plan had been abandoned and the fires were being fought Further confusion brought on by the media was their over simplification of the burn acreage The Park Service regularly released status reports on the affected areas pointing out that only about half of that area actually actual actual- ly burned By the time the information reached the na na- na- na news it was being reported that the entire acreage d i in i r flames It is true that of the park has been affected by the fires but almost half of that was surface burns only burns only the tops of the trees were involved involved involved in in- in the fire Most of the surface burn area has already started to recover Everything beautiful and unique to Yellowstone prior to the fires is still there maybe a little scorched but the park is just as memorable Signed Barbara Krambule |