Off and on for the last few weeks, the whirl of helicopter blades has been a common sound for the residents of Darby.
An Idaho-based helicopter logging company has used the Logger Days grounds as its base station as it finishes hauling out the last logs from the Bitterroot National Forest’s Trapper-Bunkhouse fuel reduction project just west of town.
“The work is about completed now,” said Jerry Krueger, the forest’s planning officer.
That work to thin national forest lands in the wildland-urban interface near Darby has been in progress since 2010.
Up until now, most of the thinning has been done on the ground where more traditional logging can occur. The most challenging portion, with its lack of access and rugged topography, was saved for last.
From The Ravalli Republic: https://www.ravallirepublic.com/lifestyles/blife/article_09164ac8-4185-11e2-a669-001a4bcf887a.html