Brian Brademeyer's Page

On Easter Sunday, 2012, I hiked from Willow Creek Trailhead to Harney Peak, going past Elkhorn Mountain and along the Elkhorn-Harney ridge.  I hadn't taken this particular hike into the Black Elk Wilderness in probably 50 years, and I was eager to see the progress of the recent mountain pine beetle outbreak.  A slideshow of photos taken on this hike can be found…

Friends of the Norbeck has commissioned a new analysis of the relationship between environmental factors and pine beetle infestation in the Black Hills.  Several factors seem to have influence, but by far the most important variable is last year's beetle tree-kill level.  Then come strong…

Supreme Court Denies Norbeck Petition, 4-23-12

On April 23, 2012, the Supreme Court denied our Petition for a Writ of Certiorari. This brings to an end our attempt to stop the logging in the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve.…

Friends of the Norbeck recently commissioned professional statistician Grant Foster to look at possible relations between large fires, on the one hand, and weather, logging, and beetle tree-mortality levels on the other.  We provided him with a century of data from the Black Hills National Forest, 1910-2009.

On February…

Last Norbeck Option is Supreme Court

Anyone driving west from Mount Rushmore on Highway 244 is confronted by the severe damage being inflicted upon the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve, not by pine beetles but by the US Forest Service.  Friends of the Norbeck and Native Ecosystems Council have one last option to stop this senseless logging damage: appealing the Norbeck case to the US Supreme…