they had a chance to burn out dead and dying old growth. It was in a stand of old growth fir trees in Shoshone National Forest that the Blackwater fire of 1937 killed 15 fighters during a firestorm west of Cody, Wyoming. The fire was one of the deadliest in terms of forest firefighter deaths in U.S. history. Between the years 1970 and 2012, Shoshone National Forest averaged 25 fires annually, of which half were due to natural ignition from lightning, which accounted for 90 percent of the total acreage burned. The remaining acreage that burned was due to campfires that got out of control or from other causes. In Shoshone National Forest, the highest fire incidence is generally in the months of August and September. An average of burns annually, with the worst year in the past century being 1988, when burned from fires that had spread from the conflagration that engulfed Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding region. After the Yellowstone region fires of 1988, an effort to identify areas of similar fire potential was implemented. Fire managers at Shoshone National Forest work with a number of outside agencies to incorporate fire restrictions, fuels management, and a controlled burn plans to reduce the chances of a catastrophic fire. The dead and dying trees which have been killed by various species of bark beetle may have a great impact on future forest fires. Fire managers have stated the worst time for increased fire activity is 1–2 years after the trees are killed and then again after the trees have fallen many years later. Geography and geology Shoshone National Forest borders Yellowstone National Park and Bridger-Teton National Forest to the west. The Continental Divide demarks the boundary between Shoshone and Bridger-Teton National Forests. Along the Montana border, Shoshone National Forest borders Custer National Forest to the north. Private property, property belonging to the state of Wyoming and lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management form the eastern boundaries. Lastly, the Wind River Indian Reservation also borders on the east, and bisects a smaller southern section which includes the Popo Agie Wilderness and the Washakie Ranger District. The altitude in the forest ranges from near Cody, Wyoming, to at the top of Gannett Peak, an elevation gain of over . Of the three major mountain ranges found in the forest, they are geologically distinct from each other. All of the