BLM seeks comments on Colorado forest thinning proposal

Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management are seeking public input on a proposal to thin a 150-acre section of forest as part of the Tyndall Mountain timber sale.

The project area is located about seven miles east of Westcliffe off of Colorado 96. Comments will be part of an environmental assessment for the commercial timber project.

A 2012 inventory indicates there are more than 570 trees — mostly ponderosa and fir — per acre in the project area. The proposal calls for reducing that number to about 100 trees per acre by removing unhealthy trees infected with dwarf mistletoe or declining crown health.