Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park is made up of an immense area, taking in 2.2 million acres. The park includes large plateaus, four mountain ranges and vast forested expanses that cover over one of the world's largest volcanic calderas. Geysers, bubbling mudpots, steaming vents and scalding pools of water remind visitors that something is still simmering underground.
Great changes, above ground, spread throughout the park in 1988. Almost 800,000 acres were decimated by a fierce forest fire. Thirty-six percent of the park's territory was scorched by the flames. Enormous sections of lodgepole pines were reduced to ashes. The fire damaged pines pictured here, some with charred bark, and silvery weathered wood, coupled with a brilliant blue sky, have created quite an unique scene. Thousands of young, promising seedling seems to lay down a light green carpet for a future generation pine forest.