In a setting where firefighters were largely limited in how they could attack the main front of the East Troublesome Fire as it burned across Rocky Mountain National Park, a winter storm came to the rescue, dropping snow and rising humidity levels that slowed the flames.

National parks in one state are subject to wildfire smoke wafting in from other states on fire. This smelly, thick haze affects more than just one's ability to view the scenery. It also impacts human health along with the health of wildlife and plant life. But how? After a recent trip into Mount Rainier National Park, where smoke from wildfires in California and Oregon hid much of the landscape, turned the sky and atmosphere a dirty yellow, and smelled strongly of burning wood, photographer Rebecca Latson tried to find some answers to her questions.

It was a headline hard to ignore: Species Vanishing From Many National Parks.

"My first impression was that it looked like molten lava. Except it was molten ice. It had that same kind if pyroclastic flow to it," recalled Peter Christian of the day back in 2016 when he flew over a remote corner of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and saw a slurry of ice coursing rapidly downhill through a barren drainage.