MEEKER | Logging operations have resumed along the Buford-New Castle Road (NFSR 245) to increase aspen stands across the landscape and improve road safety.
The public should expect to encounter logging operations and traffic along length of the road through National Forest System lands Monday through Friday. Operations are expected to continue into early winter.
Aspen stands in this area are slowly being replaced by conifer trees, and many have experienced decline over the past few decades due to drought, insects and disease. Cutting and removing conifers and older aspen will stimulate regeneration of aspen.
“We appreciate the public’s patience as we conduct this important work to improve forest health and resiliency,” said Acting Rifle District Ranger Joe Fazzi. “The logging will also increase visibility and allow more daylight to reach the road, so it dries more efficiently.”
The project began in 2021. To date a contractor has cut more than 235 acres in 14 individual units along the road. Another 220 acres along the road in eight units are planned this year, as is 220 acres in 17 units in the general vicinity near Meadow Lake.
The timber is chipped on site and trucked to the biomass plant in Gypsum, which uses the chips to generate electricity.
This project was approved under the 2017 Buford-New Castle Project environmental assessment https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=47451 and is part of the White River National Forest’s Ten Year Stewardship Contract.
Special to the Herald Times
