Darby, Mont. — A partnership between the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. military is helping speed up work in the Bitterroot National Forest.

The effort comes through the military's Innovative Readiness Training program, or IRT, which allows non-Department of War organizations to request project support from the armed forces.

Steve Brown, district ranger for the Darby/Sula Ranger District, said the added help makes a big difference.

“Over the course of a of a month, there'll be 300 people here, which is about double the size of the normal staff of the National Forest. It enables us to do a lot of work in a short amount of time. Work that would have taken us years,” Brown said.

Members of the United States Marine Corps were working to decommission some forest roads. Military members from nearly every branch are in the Bitterroot working on other projects, as well.

Chief Warrant Officer Kollin Craig said the project also strengthened his force.

“There's a tremendous sense of accomplishment and pride. People join the service and they think of the Marines, how we're a fighting institution. But now it shows that we're actually going to help the American people. Coming out here and interacting with the populace and knowing that we're going to leave it better than we found it, it just brings you a tremendous amount of pride,” Craig said.

The IRT program also supports work beyond civil engineering projects, including cybersecurity and medical care.

Brown said local groups are already preparing another proposal for next year.

“We do hope that this parlays into multiple years of projects. We've already started pulling together our proposal for next year. The town and the School of Darby are also putting together a proposal for some medical missions for next year, whether that's veterinary or vision and dental. We're hopeful that the projects are able to expand next year and for years to come,” Brown said.