The Fishlake National forest is being recognized by the National U.S. Forest Service with an award.

The Richfield Ranger District has received an award for their work on the Monroe Mountain aspen recovery project.

That project has included prescribed burns in the last few years.

John Zapell with the Fishlake National Forest says aspen is a keystone species for a lot of wildlife and those prescribed burns improve conditions in the forest.

Zapell says a lot of people have been helping in this project.

“This is amazing,” Zapell says. “It’s a real tribute to all the work that’s gone into it.”

Zapell says there’s still a lot more work to do. And it may not look very pretty now, but eventually it’ll look pretty darn good.

He also thanks all those who have been working on this project.

Jason Kling traveled to Washington D.C. to accept the award on behalf of the Fishlake National Forest Ranger District.