JOHN DAY — It’s been nearly three months since a major wildfire erupted in Canyon Creek south of John Day, and helicopters continue to buzz over the charred and blackened hills of the Malheur National Forest.

Only now, instead of water or fire retardant, the choppers are dumping thousands of pounds of wood mulch along the ridgetops to slow down soil erosion and prevent flooding in the fall and winter months.

Forest officials have started work to rehabilitate the landscape devastated by the Canyon Creek Complex, which raged across 110,000 acres and destroyed more than 40 homes earlier this summer.

Though the blaze has been mostly contained since September, the chief concern now is a sudden flood rushing down Canyon Creek into Canyon City and John Day. Without enough vegetation to soak up rain and snow, runoff threatens to sweep down the barren hillsides as if it were poured onto concrete.

Putting down mulch can help keep the ground stable and limit the speed that water drains into the creek, said Todd Gregory, deputy fire staff on the Malheur National Forest. Helicopters have already treated more than 140 acres around Vance Creek south of Canyon City, and will turn their attention next to Rattlesnake Ridge later this week.

Mulching is one project identified in the Burned Area Emergency Response plan, or BAER, developed by Malheur Forest staff and local landowners. Gregory said they hope to treat between 1,000-1,500 acres with mulch before the snow falls too heavily.

In recent weeks, helicopters dumped anywhere from 75-90 loads of mulch per day, Gregory said. Each load contains about 2,500 pounds of mulch, and it usually takes about a dozen drops to cover one acre of land, he said.

“The hard part is figuring out at what height and what speed to get the best coverage,” he said.

Local contractors were hired to grind up the mulch using wood and small-diameter trees logged directly from the forest, Gregory said. Mulching has been reserved for high-intensity burned areas, along ridgetops where the ground isn’t flat, but isn’t too steep, either.

Gregory said it has been impressive watching the pilots do their work. They typically fly about 350 feet over ground level at just more than 23 mph.

In addition to mulching, forest workers also finished placing wooden structures known as log jams over portions of Canyon Creek, Vance Creek and Overholt Creek designed to catch burned-up debris that could wash down in a storm and cause flooding.

Other projects identified in the BAER include cutting down hazard trees and storm-proofing roads, Gregory said. He expects an AmeriCorps team will arrive next week to begin rehabbing more than six miles of trails in the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness — including the popular Joaquin Miller Trail.

So far, the Forest Service has spent roughly a half-million dollars treating the fire area.

“We’re working as hard as we can, as quickly as we can, to limit the damage of erosion and flooding before winter hits,” Gregory said.

The BAER has been approved by the Forest Service’s Northwest Region Office as well as in Washington, D.C., and has involved partnerships with local agencies and companies.

Eric Bush, John Day Airbase Manager and Malheur Unit Aviation Officer, said he is very pleased with the professionalism and safety of everyone working on the project.