STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

A celebration marking the restoration of Deer Creek will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 10.

The public is invited to tour part of the completed project from 4 to 6 p.m. and then join in a celebration with refreshments at 6 p.m.

Meet at the Deer Creek Trailhead. From Highway 75 turn west onto Deer Creek Road located north of Hailey. Follow the road for 10 miles to the main Deer Creek trailhead.  The Forest Service gravel road takes time to drive so allow yourself 20 to 30 minutes.

Deer Creek was ravaged in the 2013 Beaver Creek Fire and then further impacted by heavy rainfall and flooding that fall.

The restoration was spearheaded by the Ketchum Ranger District, the 5B Restoration Coalition created in the wake of the fire, National Forest Foundation and other agencies.

Serving as the catalyst for the $ million project was Blaine County's Land, Water and Wildlife Program,which contributed a $400,000 grant. The program, which has helped fund 12 conservation projects, is made possible by a two-year levy that raised $3.4 million in 2008 for lasting protection and restoration of land, water and wildlife in the county.

They took the road out of the wetlands, making it more sustainable for the future. They rebuilt trails that had been completely washed away. And they just recently added the second of new bridges.