With hurricane season looming, Jackson County wants to remove a number of large trees that were blown over into Caney Fork Creek. Downed trees could cause a log jam in the creek, causing water to back up and overtop the banks during heavy rains, or wash downstream and slam into bridges.

County Manager Chuck Wooten said a June 15 storm caused considerable damage in the Caney Fork community, located off old Cullowhee Road between Sylva and Cullowhee.

“We’re really not sure what the extent of the damage is,” Wooten told Jackson County commissioners this week, but added that what has blown into the creek needs to be removed “before we have a situation like we had in June.”

Wooten has submitted a request to the Natural Resources Conservation Services for funding, and representatives were in Jackson County earlier this month to inspect the damage. The agency asked for an estimate on the cost of cleanup.

The county manager said Omni Pinnacle, a debris-removal company, would provide an estimate. The Natural Resources Conversation Services, if the agency agrees to do so, would pay 75 percent of the clean-up costs