Our Slope Maintenance and Ski Patrol crews are wrapping up the initial efforts of the Monarch Pass Vegetation Management Project.  They have been working diligently to clean up slash piles left over after the removal of beetle-killed trees from the mountain.  As described in an earlier post, we have been chipping and grinding as much of this material as we can and distributing it to disturbed areas.  With the early snow cover on the mountain in October, the option to burn some slash piles has also been implemented to assist in cleaning up these areas.  Thinning the forest and removing large dead trees have actually accomplished some of what a forest fire does.  So, including some burning with this project only seems natural.  The canopy has opened up giving smaller trees an opportunity to establish their place in the forest.  The mountain is a bit hazy right now as this project finishes up .  All State and County permits are in place for this activity and we are working within the prescription of our burn plan with the USFS.