VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Federal officials say they plan to cut down some white spruce trees in the Black Hills to help limit damage from wildfires and allow other tree species to grow.

The Spruce Vegetation Management Program covers over 20,000 acres for tree removal in the central and northern Black Hills.

Jerry Krueger, deputy supervisor of the Black Hills National Forest, said spruce stands create opportunities for wildfires to jump from one location to the next. He added that removing white spruce will encourage aspen growth.

Ben Wudtke, executive director of the Black Hills Forest Resource Association, represents timber companies that would carry out the proposed project, South Dakota Public Broadcasting reported.

“One component of the project is to remove the spruce that’s encroached into these stands that were historically aspen and pine stands, and they’ve grown unnaturally dense with the spruce,” Wudtke said. “They’re going to go in and remove that spruce and kind of reset that stand to what it was naturally.”

Some opponents say the project would destroy the ecosystem of spruce stands. Mary Zimmerman, vice president of the Norbeck Society, a conservation group in Rapid City, aid prescribed burns and removing small trees are better methods for preventing wildfires.

“We’re already at a pretty dire shortage of mature landscapes in our forest,” Zimmerman said. “That’s where you really find ecological strength. It’s in diversification and complexity, and the forest has already suffered quite a bit of change.”