U.S. Forest Service tree specialist Amy Haas has seen enough. For five years now, Haas, Rapid City, S.D., Forest Service entomologist Kurt Allen and USFS landscape architect Paul Valcarce have watched as an infestation of the spruce budworm expanded its footprint on a nine-mile long corridor alongside the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. Haas said she hopes 2018 will be the year when a longtime plan to log the dead wood out of the area goes through. By harvesting, the Service aims to decrease fire risk and spur faster regeneration of the forest rather than to halt the spread of the insect. According to an environmental assessment published last month, the Service is planning to put 2,078 acres of timber out for bid along WYO 296.