In the 1920's and 1930's when our communities and the smelter complex were first established, many trees were cut for fuel and lumber. Trees were cut to make fire breaks, others were burned in forest fires. As production from Flin Flon Mine, and later, other mines increased, so did the amount of sulphur dioxide smoke from the plant. The smoke is harmful to vegetation so the forest was not able to recover. The increasing acidity and metal content of the soil meant that only very few hardy types of plants were able to survive. As the plants died, the thin topsoil washed away.

Our community has benefited from the expertise of Professor Keith Winterhalder from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, who was one of the key researchers that discovered how crushed limestone could treat acidic soils with high metal content so that plants could thrive again.