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Jun 14, 2006 8:20 am US/Mountain
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Forest Service Project Would Clear 26,000 Acres
The Forest Service will hold an open house on the project June 26, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Dillon District visitor center on Blue River Parkway (Highway 9) in Silverthorne.
FRISCO, Colo. (AP) ―
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public comment on a plan to remove trees on about 26,000 acres of both private and national forest lands to promote and restore healthy forests and reduce the effects of the mountain pine beetle epidemic in Colorado.
The Forest service is taking comment through the end of June for the project that would clear dead and beetle infested lodgepole pines around Keystone, Dillon and Frisco.
In some areas, the majority of lodgepole pines within a treatment area may be removed. The work is expected to last between three and five years, with about 2,000 log-hauling trucks passing through local towns during that time.
The Forest Service estimates that about 12-14 miles of new temporary roads would be built then decommissioned after harvest operations.
"We'll probably have a narrower focus after we get some comments," said Forest Service project leader Cary Green, describing it as a long-term effort aimed at creating a healthy forest with mixed age classes of trees. "We're looking at future management. You can't look at this short-term," he said. "We want young stands ... We'll just have to deal with the scenic effects."
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)