Tree thinning started on ski area at Bald Mountain

KETCHUM (AP) - The U.S. Forest Service and Sun Valley Resort have started a tree-thinning project at the ski area on Bald Mountain in central Idaho.

The Idaho Mountain Express reported Wednesday that 25 acres are being thinned in one area this year and that about 182 acres will be thinned during the next three to five years.

"The goal is to keep the mountain as green as possible," Ketchum District Ranger Kurt Nelson said. The thinning will take out trees killed by insects as well as infected trees while preserving healthy ones, he said.

Douglas fir trees on the mountain have been hit hard by beetles and parasitic dwarf mistletoe. The project will also remove aspen and alpine fir.

A machine that can cut trees that have a diameter of 14 inches or less will be used for much of the work, said Peter Stearns, director of mountain operations for the resort.

Larger trees, he said, will have to be cut down with a chain saw.

The mountain has become an ideal location for beetles to reach epidemic numbers, Nelson said.

Birds and other insects eat some of the beetles but not enough to slow the growth of the beetle population, he said. Officials in recent years have been attempting to fool the beetles by using pheromones to either draw them in or send them elsewhere.

Jack Sibbach, Sun Valley Resort's director of marketing and public relations, said the project is also intended to make the mountain better for winter recreationists by creating more space on ski runs. The project is being paid for by Sun Valley Resort and grants from the U.S. Forest Service.

"We're grateful for this partnership," Sibbach said.

A cost estimate for the project hasn't been made, officials said.