Nature Trail To Be Closed Until May 10

The Mineral Ridge Trail along Lake Coeur d’Alene will be closed to public use through May 10.

The Bureau of Land Management is removing more trees in and around the nature trail that were damaged during November’s ice storm and previous wind storms.

In mid-April, the BLM hired W&R Timber Management of Coeur d’Alene to remove about 205,000 board feet of timber.

The timber company is going back in to remove about another 100,000 board feet, said Bill Cook, BLM natural resource specialist.

“There was more volume up there than we originally estimated,” Cook said.

Cook said the agency was making very little money from the timber sale because it is being logged by helicopter. The main purpose of the logging operation is to improve safety of the trail by removing dangerous trees and the potential for wildfire, he said.

Next week, a BLM planting crew will go into the park and start planting trees and shrubs where logging has created holes in the forest cover.

, DataTimes