A pair of Coeur d’Alene volunteers armed with chainsaws and a full Saturday tackled one of North Idaho’s most beloved family hiking trails last weekend, felling 115 storm-downed trees on the Revett Lake Trail in the Coeur d’Alene National Forest near Prichard — all in a single 12-hour push.
Jeffrey Durocher, 53, and Chris Celentano, 37, began work at 9:30 in the morning and didn’t pack up their gear until 9:15 that night, clearing every blowdown across the trail’s two-mile length. The most formidable obstacle they faced was a single tree measuring 36 inches in diameter — a massive specimen by any standard.
A December Storm Left the Trail in Ruins
The work stems from a destructive winter storm that hammered the region last December. Wind speeds reached 85 miles per hour, with gusts topping 100 mph, snapping and toppling trees across the Coeur d’Alene National Forest and leaving popular recreation routes choked with debris. The Revett Lake Trail, a two-mile path known for drawing families and children, took a particularly hard hit.
Celentano said the scale of the damage this season dwarfs anything the two have encountered in prior years. “It is exponentially more downfall this year,” he said.
Durocher and Celentano didn’t wait for warm weather to respond. The pair began clearing trails in early January — weeks after the storm — well ahead of their typical May-through-July volunteer window, which usually accounts for roughly 100 hours of trail work per season. So far this year, they have removed more than 1,000 trees across area trails, with approximately six weeks of their planned season still remaining.
Certified Sawyers Turned Dedicated Stewards
The two men became certified U.S. Forest Service sawyers in March, a credential that allows them to legally operate chainsaws on federal land to clear fallen timber. Their partnership traces back to 2018, when they met in a photography class — a shared hobby that eventually gave way to an even deeper shared purpose: keeping North Idaho’s trail network open and accessible for everyone who depends on it.
For Durocher, the motivation is straightforward. “This is why we do it,” he said. “Because of the kids, because it’s one of the most popular and family-friendly trails we have in the area.”
The Revett Lake Trail’s reputation as a beginner-friendly, family-oriented route makes its accessibility especially important. Trail closures or hazardous conditions not only frustrate hikers but also ripple through Silver Valley and North Idaho communities that depend on outdoor recreation as a cornerstone of the local economy. Lookout Pass, Silver Mountain, and the broader network of trails surrounding Shoshone County draw visitors from across the region, and volunteer efforts like Durocher and Celentano’s help keep that draw intact when federal agencies face resource constraints.
The volunteer work also reflects a broader pattern of private citizens stepping in to maintain public lands. Federal land managers across North Idaho have faced ongoing pressure on their maintenance and operations budgets, making the labor of certified volunteer sawyers increasingly vital to keeping popular corridors open, particularly in the aftermath of severe weather events.
What Comes Next
With roughly a month and a half left in their self-imposed work season, Durocher and Celentano are expected to continue clearing storm damage across trails in the Coeur d’Alene National Forest. The pair’s year-to-date total of more than 1,000 trees removed illustrates just how significant the December storm’s impact was on the regional trail system — and how much ground volunteer crews still have to cover before summer recreation season hits its peak.
Hikers planning to visit the Revett Lake Trail near Prichard should check current trail conditions with the Idaho Panhandle National Forests before heading out, as additional storm damage may remain on other routes in the area. For more statewide recreation and public lands news, visit Idaho News.