In the forest around Hart Prairie, about 14 miles north of Flagstaff, trees appear to be uprooting themselves and walking across the forest floor. But the sound of the forest is mechanical, a hum filling the air, disrupting the peace of the ponderosa pine forest.
A feller buncher — a machine that cuts trees at the base and moves them while still upright — rolls into view, the force behind the moving trees.
Blue ties and orange slashes of spray paint designate some trees as off-limits, but everything else is fair game to the loggers, whose work will help federal, state and local agencies protect the forests and residents of Flagstaff from fire and floods.
