A forest that's vulnerable to fire and disease is getting a reset.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is implementing new strategies of forest recovery within the Blackfoot River watershed near Potomac where logging once took place.
“These areas had a lot of large diameter ponderosa pine that was extremely valuable for making plywood," BLM Missoula Field Office Forester Kyle Johnson told MTN News.
Throughout the 20th century, the area was extensively logged but now, using a little bit of forensics — and existing timber markets — the land is being returned to more of a natural state.
“These lands were being managed industrially, and the most economic way to cut timber largely is the clear cut," Johnson explained.
Clearcutting — or removing every tree from an area — made the leftover tree seedlings regenerate at the same time.