MOUNTAIN GREEN — The U.S. Forest Service’s regional helicopter base for wildfire attacks will stay at Mountain Green for three more years, but the operation’s long-term home remains undetermined.

The agency’s Ogden Ranger District proposed last year to build a new base on 9 acres of Forest Service ground in Huntsville, but the plan was withdrawn after strong protests over noise, stored fuel and environmental concerns were lodged during the public comment process.

At the time, the Forest Service said moving the base from its home at the Morgan County Airport was necessary because its lease options there were running out.

But the Morgan County Commission on Feb. 15 this year approved a three-year extension on the lease, which would have expired at the end of the month.

“The Forest Service is looking for other potential locations,” Commissioner Robert McConnell said during the commission meeting that evening. “That process is taking them longer than anticipated.”

He said lease revenue is important to the county, so it makes sense to extend the lease.

Commissioner Mike Newton made a red carpet offer to the Forest Service. “We love having you here and we’d love for you to stay here in Morgan County,” Newton told Mike Krupski, a Forest Service representative at the meeting.

“Let us know how we can help to make that happen long term,” Newton said. “There are many, many benefits to having the heliport here.”

David Whittekiend, supervisor of the Uinta-Wasatch Cache National Forest, said Thursday that officials have determined that finding property to build a base is no longer feasible, given limited federal funds allocated for the project in 2021 and the soaring cost of real estate.

In the long run, such a base would be cheaper, but now the agency will lease, either in Morgan or some other airport along the Wasatch Front, Whittekiend said. “Once we put it open, there will be a lot of competition for that lease,” he said.

A long-term location will be identified before the new Morgan lease runs out, he said.

Plans for the base at Huntsville called for facilities supporting four firefighting helicopters, although no more than three would be on site at a time, and many days just one. The base would average one takeoff a day during the firefighting season.

Infrastructure would include three helipads, operations and warehouse buildings, vehicle parking and a fuel containment area, according to Forest Service documents. The base would support 33 firefighters, four pilots and up to 14 contract employees.

Until a permanent home is acquired, the helicopter operation will be kept at a local airport “at great expense to the agency, with facilities not designed for the operation, and with logistical challenges,” according to the planning documents.

Before making the Huntsville proposal, the Forest Serviced wanted to set up the base at Ogden-Hinckley Airport, but that fell through during negotiations with Ogden City, the documents said.

The existing base is the only one of its kind in Utah, according to the Forest Service, one that is increasingly vital as more homes are built close to forest land and Western wildfire seasons get longer and more intense.

Efforts to contact McConnell, the Morgan commission’s airport specialist, were not immediately successful.

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