Observations of a Wilderness Lookout

Abstract

This photo essay depicts more than forty years of lookout life. Since 1980 the author and his wife have staffed six towers across wilderness areas in Arizona, Idaho, and Montana. Organized around short vignettes—infrastructure, fire, flora and fauna, sky, awe, and gratitude—it pairs photographs with brief reflections on the day-to-day practices of being a Wilderness fire lookout. The essay argues the job was never only spotting smoke, and that the lookout performs many other necessary duties, such as backcountry rescue communication, in addition to wildfire detection. It ultimately asserts that lookouts in the modern age have remained true to their original functions while also adapting to a rapidly changing society and environment. The author provides a rare perspective on shifts in fire policy and management, as told through an unusually long tenure as a fire lookout.