The Federal Emergency Management Agency has turned down a request from Helena officials to add to an existing environmental study, an alteration that would have considered the effects of using logging machinery to cut most ponderosa pine trees on 27 acres of city-owned property off Lime Kiln Road.

The two Lime Kiln parcels had initially been slated for hand-thinning work, in an effort to reduce fire fuels in an area near residential homes. But when officials visited the properties again this summer, they discovered a pine beetle infestation was killing the vast majority of ponderosa pines in the area.

They suggested changing the work plan to include mechanized equipment and to cut most of the dead and dying trees. The work was set to be funded by a FEMA grant, so the change had to undergo an additional environmental review by that agency.

FEMA officials, in a letter last week, said the change was too significant for a supplemental evaluation.

City Manager Tim Burton said city staffers and the Helena Open Lands Management Advisory Committee will evaluate the city's options and bring a recommendation to city commissioners next month.

The city could move forward with the original hand-thinning plan, consider other sources of funding for mechanized logging, evaluate emphasizing defensible space around nearby homes instead of large-scale thinning, or pursue other options, Burton told commissioners in a meeting Monday.

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com