KOTA Territory NewsDamage is more than "soil" deep

Makenzi Henderson

It's been almost two weeks since a tornado ripped through the Cook Lake/Sundance area of Crook County, Wyoming.

As people who live there rebuild their lives, loggers start salvaging downed trees.  But, the damage is more than "soil" deep. 

"It was almost like a bomb went off," said Steve Kozel, a U.S. Forest Service officer with the Bearlodge Ranger District.

As much as 95 percent of the trees were snapped in half or lifted from their roots.

"It was a dramatic change in the landscape in just a few moments," Kozel said.

On July 13^th, a tornado tore through 4,500 acres of the Cook Lake area of Wyoming.

"I was very shocked.  It's a very rare occurrence," Kozel said.

It flattened a lush forest.

"We had a canopy cover of 40 to 50 percent in the stands nearby here all of a sudden that canopy is gone," Kozel said.

And, it created at least five weeks of work for loggers.

"Normally we just do regular timber sales. But, they bring us in here to do this one," Jon Hughes, a logger said.

In a 900-acre area of the Black Hills National Forest, loggers say they can salvage, and turn more than two thirds of it into lumber, or five million board feet.

"I'm cutting the broken ones off so we got salvageable logs in it," Hughes said.  "We'll utilize every bit of it we can."

"We're very fortunate that we have the active lumber sales in the area," Kozel said.

But, Forest Service officers say the money made from this project doesn't make up for the loss.

"It does change the environment," Kozel said.

While loggers will finish harvesting the trees in a couple months, Forest Service officers' work has just begun.

"It's going to take a number of years to recover to where it was similar to when the tornado event happened," Kozel said.

 
Forest Service officers say they don't know how much the damage will cost.

They also warn drivers to be careful on Forest Road 843, as there will be a lot of hazardous truck traffic.

Crook County commissioners may close the road for logging.  They make a decision on that Monday.