Bitterroot National Forest donates slash for Darby Fuels for Schools

On a cold snowy morning near the Coyote Coulee Trailhead, the whine and crunch of a wood chipper echoed through the freshly thinned ponderosa pine stand.

The noise meant two things: Massive piles of slash won’t be burned on the forest; and Darby school is going to save a bundle of money on heating costs this year.

The woodchips being generated are going directly to the stockpile which feeds the biomass boiler that heats Darby’s school buildings. Typically, chips like this cost the school $41 dollars a ton, said maintenance supervisor, Rick Scheele. The school is getting a screaming deal on these chips at $10 a ton.

The chips are being given to the school at the reduced rate through a unique effort by the Bitterroot National Forest and Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake.

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The boiler in Darby was a pilot project for Fuels For Schools Program http://www.fuelsforschools.org/ , which is under the State and Private Forestry branch of the Forest Service and run by Tom Coston of Hamilton.

By GREG LEMON

Ravalli Republic

Full Story: http://www.ravallinews.com/articles/2005/12/01/news/news01.txt