The 1,300-acre Deer Point project getting underway northeast of Boise aims to protect wildland-urban interface areas and recreation sites by improving forest health and reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire, according to Boise National Forest officials.

The four-year effort — centered a mile southwest of the Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area that features a ski hill and other amenities — will focus on active forest management practices including commercial logging for selected species and removal of hazard trees damaged by insects and disease, according to a BNF news release.

In the wildland-urban interface, removing built-up vegetation will reduce the risk of catastrophic fires and help future firefighting efforts, while the prioritized removal of Douglas fir will decrease the area’s susceptibility to dwarf mistletoe infection and bark beetle mortality specific to that species, officials said.

Crews plan to leave Ponderosa pine standing for the most part, as that species is more fire tolerant and less susceptible to the insects and pathogens present in the area.

Tree removal will require temporary area, trail and road closures for public safety. Boise County plans to close Bogus Basin Road from 8-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. May 12-June 20 Monday through Friday, excluding Memorial Day, according to the release.

Forest officials “understand these closures will be disruptive,” so they worked with recreation area staff and nearby residents to minimize impacts, said Mountain Home District Ranger Adriene Holcomb. “Cutting down, yarding and hauling trees can be hazardous work and our contractors must be given time and space to do their job safely.”

Money from the commercial sale will be used on landscape-restoration facets of the project including road reconstruction and stream habitat improvement, according to BNF. Noncommercial tree thinning and Ponderosa pine planting are planned in a future phase.

The Deer Point Forest Stewardship Project — part of Sinker Creek-Boise Ridge and Bogus Basin forest health project decisions — is a continuation of similar active forest management efforts led by BNF to improve forest health and protect the wildland-urban interface in the Boise Foothills.

Recent projects include the 315-acre Bogus Basin Forest Health Project and the 43-acre Aldape Good Neighbor Authority Project completed in conjunction with the Idaho Department of Lands.

Mountain Home Ranger District: 208-587-7961.

Sinker Creek-Boise Ridge decision detail: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/boise/projects/archive/56323

Bogus Basin decision detail:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/boise/projects/archive/47956