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Late last week, rain fell over Montana and Idaho. But the worst of the fire season lies ahead. It's going to be a long September. The flames will go out only when the rains and snows come in October. Millions of acres of the West will lie blackened for a long time, and in some places will never regenerate. The sight of all that devastation will make the culture war even more intense. But nature is resilient. Life eventually reclaimed even the devastated moonscape left behind by the explosion of Mount St. Helens.
--With reporting by Ed Barnes/Rolla, Mo., Ann Blackman/Washington, Todd Murphy/Salmon, Idaho, Richard Woodbury/Great Falls, Mont., and David Nordan/Ellijay, Ga.