The City of Kenai will mitigate wildfire hazards on nearly 120 acres of city property following the Kenai City Council’s award of a contract for the project during their Wednesday night meeting.

The project is part of the city’s ongoing efforts to fell trees killed by spruce bark beetles, which are especially vulnerable to wildfires and are prone to falling over during high wind events.

To be addressed through the project are about 118.5 acres spread across three pieces of land in the area near Cemetery Creek, which runs from the float plane basin at the Kenai Municipal Airport across the highway to about the LeeShore Center. Within that land, the city expects to mitigate about 85 acres worth of trees.

The city received three bids for the work, the lowest of which came from Doug Koch Professional Tree Service, who was awarded the bid, at $177,700. Funding for the project will come from grants the city received from the Alaska Department Natural Resources and from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank told council members during Wednesday’s meeting that the project scope includes felling and removing trees, except in steep terrain, where the contractor may not remove felled trees.

Kenai has been noticeable barer since 2022, when the city began using grant funds to comprehensively remove trees on city property, such as at the post office. The city has also for the last two summers operated slash disposal sites north of the Kenai soccer fields. The site provides a space for residents to get rid of trees or other slash they’ve taken down on their properties.

Per a website about spruce bark beetles that is run by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, spruce bark beetle activity in Alaska forests decreased significantly during 2022. Aerial surveys, the site says, detected beetle activity on about 48,800 acres of land in 2022 compared to about 193,500 acres in 2021.

More information about spruce bark beetle activity in Alaska can be found at www.alaskasprucebeetle.org.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.