Troops lend a hand at Flying W Ranch

Fort Carson soldiers spent the better part of Thursday volunteering at the Flying W Ranch.

The 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team helped to restore the ranch lands after the Waldo Canyon fire.

After the fire devastated the ranch in 2012, flooding has become a major problem due to the lack of vegetation to hold sediment on the mountainside.

Not only has this become a problem for the Flying W ranch, residents directly below the ranch also face the risk of soil from the mountains washing onto their property.

To help with this problem crews cut down burnt, and dead trees and repurposed the logs, using them as barriers along the mountainsides. The trunks will greatly cut down on debris flows during rain events.

Rebuilding and flood mitigation is an ongoing project for the Flying W Ranch. The ranch hopes to be back open the summer of 2016.