Approved For Release 200 07 : C IA-RDP96-00789 ROO 1200060002-1 SECRETMOFORN PF11'OJE(*1.-f* SUN S11"REAkI.' WARNINGNOTICE- INTELLMENCESOURCES AND METHODS INVOLVED . ........ . ........... . ......... ........ ... ........ . .. NU111MEJR:51*77 (Trig) iS;E.S1,:11ON NUMBER-. I OF:' SIE'SS'10N:26 1'@EEi 1?0 DIATE. CV' R E P UP C 1'. 27 F`EB 90 G.7AFC1-.- C)','?50 END: I Q 2:3 Mll".THIDDOI OGY CRV Vfl"EWEF-@ IDEN]"IF'IER'. 052 __ ......... .... .... ........... .... ... ... -....__....._.- .... .... ..... .. ... ....... .--- S T 1) 111 (@-3 ST 0 N - To th(e targHL site (Forest fire! in 1 Yellowstone Naticma]. Park:) in S;tage 2 terminology. /STD) V1E:.WE1`3 No coordinates i-are provided for- thic site, -ic - g cvl- cueing. No othier in-hor-mation given. __3 tl tar 11UMber alone was utsed as -@hysical 1'riclemencies. 05'42 quickly proc:L-.@-Ecjed D COMMIENTS;: No I -1--.1hrot-ugh S)tiitge@ 1, IjUt incomplc,,tely. Stage 2 fil.]Ied in U-1e to resolve the s i -1-: e Post se@isdon disc(..(ssion concerned 11-lie "self-- c'.or-rec-ting" quality of CRV, as, shown by ti-vis Later, LAIIS' SE@ssloll was compared to a 1:)r@..WiOUS site 052 h,.-.kd done (with another inordtor). Eitrong sifflilarities tht-.@ two siiites, c...,howing a -fac..A1.,.Pr of ti-ic-, CRV process. 'c'.@/53"u)) EVALUATION. -3 7 .5. I'L ) S E" J -ARC -1 1: VA1_.1J(-)T- ON. N S) j .1. @`11 V)N 1. 'TOFZ:: 0.18 HANDLE VIA i:3-rIPPLE 7 CHANNELS ONLY .. . . . ......... .......I. . ...... ... .......... GECRET/NOFORN CLiASS.T.F''IrEED BY. 1) 1A D"I") :1 r [@. C.'LASS1 F"Y OADR D Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1200060002-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1200060002-1 @ 1, n5@t@ I C;@& A/ YOU, 61712 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1200060002-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO120006iOO2@- jZ 51V F7 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1200060002-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07: CIA-RDP96-00789RO01 2000600ei-gl-Y &4 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789RO01 0 rl\ i Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789RO01 2000 0 1'/ d* YNZ-k /fk h @-57c hd WO Approved For Release 20 "13/07 - /* 89ROO1200060002-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROOUOOQ6@@t@ Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1200060002-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1200060 Ise Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1200060002-1 3roved For Release 2001 @r Firefighters watch as the Storm Creek fire engulfs the forest near @eltowstone's northeast entrance "We Could Have Stopped This" Yellowstone Park @ worst blazes spark a controversy or the first 100 years after Yellowstone F National Park was created in 1872, its caretakers diligently protected its forests from fire damage. As scientists learned more about the balance of nature in areas like YellOWSLOne, they discovered that fi re was sonicLimes a helpful, even necessary, iliffedient.. Thus in 1972 the National Park Service adopted a policy of allowing SIN)III,MCOLIS fires to burn unimpeded un- 1(2ss dicy @eriously threatened lives or profict Ly. N@llkll @d hLiVI)ing has brooked little op- POSiLion, but then Yellowstone has rarely suffered serious fire damage. Until this summer, that is. In the midst of the hottest and dryest season in the park's 116-year h isLory, as many as ten separate fires have raged over 582,401 acres of Yellowstone's 2.2 million acres, four adjacent national forests and Grand Teton National Park. I gn i Led by I ightning and whipped by high winds, the flames have threatened some Vs most popular sites, including of the pal Old Faithful. Last week more than 500 LOUi'isLs and employees were evacuated from one of Yellowstone's main tourist villa! es after the so-called North Fork fire burned within two miles. The swift fires occasionally raced into areas before -k officials could warn tourists to stay pat a,,\. "We could have stopped this," cumplaincd one of the 8.000 weary fire fighters battling the blazes last week. "They won't let us." Park officials maintain that they can on ly con tai n the fi res, not extinguish them. Mea n wh i le, defenders of the natural-burn policy trumpet its benefits: the flames clear -thick stands of timber and prepare the soil for a new generation of flora. For example, many of the seed cones of the lodgepole pine, which covers 60% of the park, only open after being exposed to in- tense heat. Ecologists expect the fires to help restore the park's depleted stands of aspen trees and increase the wide array of insects, birds and maninials that have found Yellowstone's aging forests increas- ingly inhospitable. "It's part of living in an ecosystem that is basically wild and un- con trol ]able," says Louisa Willcox of the Greater Yellmkstone Coalition, which supports the naLural-burn policy. But critics say it is irresponsible to MONTANA Northeast Entrance T YM-LOWST N ................ West Entrar% Z T AL- NA East Entrance P OMING (0) aith .1 V@ MINK 0 CREEK X A Wt < 0 10 I miles CANADA YELLOWSTONE N MONT. IDAHO @Wyo, @INEV. UTAH COLO. TIME Map by Paul I Pugffe e pretend that Yellowstone and other high- use wilderness areas can thrive on nature alone. "Letting nature take its course here is not based on realistic assumptions says Alston Chase, author of Playing God in Yellowstone. "What starts as a policy of laissez-faire ends up becoming a policy of massive interference." Chase advocates setting controlled fires to produce the de- sired mosaic of vegetation, while creating breaks that would prevent natural fires from spreading out of control. "You don't prevent forest fires," says Chase. "You just postpone them by building up fuels. This Summer we're paying the price for more than a century of mismanagement." Chase is concerned that a backlash to the natUral-burn policy may produce the other eXLreme. the rapid extinguishing of all forest fires. Residents, tourists and area politicians have already sharply crit- icized the Park Service for waiting too long before moving to contain the latest blazes. "I question the wisdom of sticking to the policy in a year like this, with these severe drought and weather conditions." said Montana Senator Max Baucus, a Democrat. Wyoming Senator Malcolm allop, a Repuhlican, agreed, adding his W, -ry about the impact of the fires on the woi local economy. "We've had a catastrophe in our tourist industry," fie said. Yellowstone officials anticipate con- gressional oversight hearings, and some I observers predict that the summer of 1988 will be a turning point in the debate over how fires should be managed. "This fire will be an example of what went right and what went wrong," says Willcox. But with many areas still blazing out of control late last week, Such a postmortem won't take place until fall at the earliest, after nature finally SnUffS Out the last flames with rain and snow. -By Laurence Zuckennan. Reported by Patrick DawsonlYellowstone 19