Railroad companies with large timber holdings in the area began to leave in the 1960s, leading to the rise of independent "gyppo" loggers who salvaged discarded timber while under contract to regional paper mills. A large open-pit mine on Miners Ridge planned by Kennecott in the late 1960s was halted after intervention from environmental activists and local politicians. Northern Pacific ended passenger rail service to the Darrington area in the 1960s, and the passenger depot was demolished in 1967. The railroad was eventually abandoned in 1990 and its right-of-way was acquired by the county for conversion into a rail trail.