By AP
Morehead, KY – The U. S. Forest Service reports damaged trees on nearly 13,000 acres in the Daniel Boone National Forest will be cut down. It's the largest removal project ever to be conducted in the forest.
Officials say the copntroversial project is aimed at removing trees weakened, but still standing, after an ice storm three years ago that invited disease or insect damage to te trees.
The project is expected to cost $2.2 million but the Forest Service hopes to get half of that back from the sale of timber.
The project could be delayed for a few months by an administrative appeal by the environmental group "Kentucky Heartwood", which has fought the cutting for several years.
Environmentalists say the ice storm was a natural act and that restoring the forest should be left to nature.