Evolving ecology: Wisdom from 30 years as a fire lookout

Jim Henterly spent more than 70 days alone at the Desolation Peak Fire Lookout station high in the Cascade mountains last summer. He was there to keep an eye out for smoke plumes but also so much more in this storied place where author Jack Kerouac also spent time in the 50s.

The American West is a fire landscape. Since 1983, there’s been an average of 70,000 wildfires every year in the United States. And the wildfire season is getting longer. Warmer springs and long dry summers are the cause.

Things are changing fast in this ancient landscape, so how have wildfires and our philosophy of fighting them changed over the decades?

To answer that, I’ve climbed to the top of this mountain to the famed fire lookout at Desolation Peak to speak to Jim Henterly. He is the fire watchman who’s stationed at the lookout.

“When I was first in the Forest Service, it became much more about regulating fire and that's only become more so and as the years have gone by and we've realized we have to manage this thing,” Henterly said. “You can't suppress it, you can't throw enough millions and millions of dollars in equipment and people at it to suppress this thing. So we need to manage it.”

Henterly has more than 30 seasons under his belt as a fire lookout. He’s seen the changes in philosophy when it comes to the way we manage fires on the landscape.

But this job is more than just about protecting wild spaces for his own benefit. Desolation Peak has long been a place to look for answers. Henterly sees his job as carrying on that legacy as well.

“I mean, this park service is all about preserving legacy, preserving story, preserving structures and sources and you know, keeping ghosts alive,” Henterly said.

The job of a fire lookout is to be a step ahead — ever watchful — and warn of danger. But maybe also to remind us of our role in the ever evolving ecology of fire.

THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.

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