Forestry and Land Scotland has begun the latest phase of its steep ground felling work at Loch Ness-side (Mon 18 Oct).

The work at Grotaig, between Drumnadrochit and Invermoriston, will clear the mature conifer from the steep hillside to make way for the establishment of native woodland.

The 100-year-old conifers need to be felled because they are at increasing risk of windblow and are of such a size – 50m tall and weighing 10-12 tonnes – that they could cause significant damage to infrastructure were they to be blown over in a storm.

FLS’ Regional Steep Ground Manager (Nth), Keith Black, said:

“Our steep ground programme is a long-term operation to reduce the risk of catastrophic events and strengthen the integrity of the particularly steep slopes along the length of the A82.

“As ever, the nature of the work means that for the safety of road users and our staff working on site we will be reintroducing traffic management along this stretch of road.

“Traffic management will be in place Monday to Friday (8am – 5pm) from October until June next year.”

“This will involve short periods of red to red / once or twice an hour that will mean short delays of up to 10 minutes.

“However, we will monitor traffic queues and to prevent excessive build up.

“There will be a break over the Christmas holiday period.

“We apologise for the inconvenience that this will cause.”