U.S. Forest Service
Several trails around Winter Park will be closed until mid-December while a fuels reduction project is underway.
The closures start Tuesday and will remain effect until Dec. 15. It includes the general forest area west of Vasquez Road and southeast of Leland Creek Road, as well as Take D’Leap, Leap Frog, D4 and D3 trails.
The work involves thinning and clearing 135 acres of trees using large machinery and logging trucks to fell, skid, deck, load and haul trees, according to a news release, which adds the trails will be unsafe while work is in progress.
This work is part of an ongoing effort to help the forest recover from the mountain pine beetle and to improve watershed resiliency and wildlife habitat by removing predominately lodgepole pine from the impacted areas while encouraging the regeneration of the trees and other species.
Remaining slash will be piled to cure and then burn in winter conditions. Some of the existing trails will be damaged by the work.
The release says the contractor will restore any forest system trails that are damaged as a result of logging operations. The U.S. Forest Service is also going to work with Headwaters Trails Alliance through the Trail Smart Sizing project to enhance the trail system in the area once the logging is complete.