Abstract

This essay analyzes the public debate concerning management of the 1988 Yellowstone forest fires. Two primary archetypal metaphors—death and rebirth—emerged. These provided a conceptual world view which helped observers define the situation and gave advocates an inventional tool for advancing their own agenda regarding fire policy and national park management. The crisis brought two competing views of public land management to the forefront of public discussion: the ecological view that public lands must be managed from a holistic view of resources and the human‐centered view that resource use should recognize the preeminence of humans in policy‐making.