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DEER LODGE, Mont. (AP) A company has a contract to cut dead or dying lodgepole pine trees this summer on state land near the state prison in Deer Lodge.

The Montana Department of Corrections says Sun Mountain Lumber of Deer Lodge will remove trees enough to fill 900 logging trucks on about 700 acres of ranchland. Most lodgepole pines on that land are dead or dying after beetle infestations.

The Department of Corrections says the tree removal is intended primarily to reduce wildfire risk. The work requires building two miles of road and reconstructing three miles of existing road.

Sun Mountain received a $490,000 government grant for costs of the logging and to pay Montana Correctional Enterprises, a division of the Department of Corrections, for the trees. The grant program is intended to reduce wildfire fuels and to assist lumber mills during the economic downturn.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 06-12-09 1142CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list