The Town of Ladysmith has made good use of the downed trees from the windstorm in December.
Mayor Aaron Stone says Ladysmith’s entire trail network from Holland Creek to Stocking and Heart Lake was impacted by the windstorm.
They’ve been salvaged by the Public Works Department.
In total, 25 cedar and Douglas fir trees knocked over in the storm were pulled from the forest and milled into roughly 8,000 board feet, which would have otherwise been purchased by the Town.
Town crews were able to use boards from the milled Douglas fir trees to install a new log birling pond cover at the Transfer Beach Amphitheatre.
The remaining timber stock is going into inventory and will be used over the coming years for various projects from stairs to railings to benches.
In total, Town crews and contracted tree fallers spent several weeks clearing over 230 fallen trees from the local trail network.