Gratitude
By Steve Thompson. This story was collected and recorded at a live storytelling event at the Montana Folk Festival in Butte on July 15th, 2023. The event was held in partnership with Resilient Butte, Families for a Livable Climate, and the County of Butte-Silver Bow.
The snow was still melting out in the high country of North Cascades National Park in 1988 when my summer as a trail crew grunt took an abrupt turn. The spring and the beginning of June had been relatively cool and wet, and that was true in Montana as well. North Cascade Pass opened later than normal due to lingering snow. But then a big shift happened in late June and early July. We entered a period of hot and dry temperatures with especially low humidity. There wasn’t a name for this phenomenon in 1988, but today we call this a “flash drought.” Today we also know 1988 as an inflection point for our way of life in the western United States.
35 years ago I was ready for the call to join the fire-fighting army in Yellowstone, but fires started blowing up in Washington State, too. Instead of going to Yellowstone, I was reassigned the rest of the summer to eating dust and digging line on several large wildfires in Washington. Little did I know that 1988 would become known as the dawn of the age of megafires.
1988 was considered a watershed year in the history of wildfire, but it was just a taste of what was to come. Since 2000, more acres have burned in the western United States in 17 out of 22 years. And that has completely changed the air we breathe. Before 1988, Butte, Montana might experience significant wildfire smoke two times a decade. Now it’s more like 7 or 8 smoky summers per decade. But those 2 or 3 summers a decade that aren’t smoky – how delicious, how glorious!
I am grateful for summers of clean air, rivers cold and deep, rainy Junes, and winters of snow uninterrupted by repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Not so long ago, we took this for granted. But now I’m thankful for those fleeting interludes of the “old normal.” This past winter was more like the old normal. Last month was rainy almost every day, just like an old-fashioned summer. Thus far, Montana’s fire season has been quiet and our only smoke has drifted in from northern Canada, which unlike Butte has been experiencing a frightening new reality this year. As I watch the climate crisis unfold around the world, I no longer take for granted a glorious summer day like today. I am so very thankful to celebrate that with you here today!
From the depths of my gratitude, I redouble my commitment to take action so that we won’t be the last lucky people in the history of the world.
Steve Thompson is the Executive Director of the National Center for Appropriate Technology, a national nonprofit based in Butte, which works across America to advance clean energy, regenerative farming, and community climate solutions.
