Last Planned Timber Clear Cut Part of Environmental Cleanup Effort

During its heyday, Fort McClellan once used several small arms and weapons ranges that today lie just to the east of the McClellan Veterans Parkway off ramp that joins Summerall Gate Road.

Oriented north-to-south along what used to be Iron Mountain Road, these ranges require extensive soil remediation work to be conducted as part of the overall $234 million cleanup effort.

The cleanup effort will include extensive soil excavation and sifting, soil treatment, and where required, clean soil back fill for the excavated sites. In order to conduct these operations, a timber clear cut of approximately 95 acres will be conducted over the coming weeks. The clear cut operations will be followed up with limb clearing, stump removal and grading operations in order for the environmental crews to complete their cleanup work. Once the cleanup operations are complete, appropriate ground seeding and permanent erosion controls will be put into place.

The MDA Committee responsible for environmental oversight will examine additional options like reforestation activities once all cleanup actions are complete. Based on the McClellan Master Plan, this is the last planned timber clear cut operation for the MDA.