Rocky Barker
Northwest Experience
Welcome to rockybarker.com, the official website of Rocky Barker, author of Scorched Earth: How the Fires of Yellowstone Changed America. The story has inspired a television movie, Firestorm: Last Stand at Yellowstone that ran on A&E Network starring Scott Foley and Richard Burgi and co-produced by Rocky.
MOVIE
The Washington Post says Scorched Earth, "conveys a powerful lesson about how Americans have sought to manage the "cataclysmic forces" of forest fires." The story has inspired a television movie, Firestorm: Last Stand at Yellowstone that ran on A&E Network starring Scott Foley and Richard Burgi and co-produced by Rocky.
BIO
Rocky Barker is an award-winning journalist and author based in Idaho. He has written extensively about environmental issues and the American West. His book Scorched Earth: How the Fires of Yellowstone Changed America was the inspiration for the TV movie Firestorm: Last Stand at Yellowstone.
​
He is the former environmental reporter for the Idaho Statesman, where he was a part of a team of reporters chosen as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for their coverage of Senator Larry Craig's arrest. He spent 2017 writing a series on the Columbia River, salmon and energy. He also was the primary researcher for a series of editorials calling for the breaching of four Snake River dams to save salmon. The team was the first winners of the Dolly Connelly Environmental Journalism Award in 1998. The National Wildlife Federation awarded him with its National Conservation Achievement Award in 1999. The Wilderness Society gave him its Aldo Leopold Award in 2016. Trout Unlimited recognized him with its Communications Professional Award in 2018 for his work on Pacific salmon.
​
Read Zach Kyle’s profile of his career in Territory Magazine.
This website provides an in-depth look at Rocky Barker's career and accomplishments. Learn about his journalism work, his books, and his passion for the environment and the American West.