All Blog Posts (49)

The Forest Service proposes renewing the SD National Guard's Special Use Permit on the Black Hills for another five year period, using a Categorical Exclusion to avoid doing an environmental assessment.

There is no Forest Service webpage for this project.

Appeals due by May 13,…

USFS Reforestation Project Decision Memo, w/o maps, 12-19-12, 675 kb

USFS…

The mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in the Central Black Hills has slowed considerably within the Norbeck Preserve in the past year, with green once again becoming the dominant color in the Preserve.  Some of the best regeneration is shown in the photo below.

With…

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…

MPB Outbreak Evolution, 2007-2011, Slide Show

Click View Slideshow to watch Outbreak Evolve

Eruption of Current MPB Outbreak in Custer State Park,…

Case 1:99-cv-02173-EWN


Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and Brian Brademeyer  v. U.S. Forest Service


Federal District Court in Colorado


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Photos below show logging damage visible from Highway 244 just west of Palmer Creek bridge, in logging Unit 21 of the Palmer Gulch Timber Sale. Photos were taken during October, 2011.

Looking towards Elkhorn Mountain:

Before:…

The Forest Service is proposing the Greyhound Land Exchange to trade 97 acres of isolated NFS lands in two parcels, for 120 acres of land within the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve, as shown in the Map below.

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Forest Service Vandalizes Norbeck Preserve

The Forest Service has begun destruction-by-bulldozer within the Norbeck Preserve in the Palmer Gulch Timber Sale, beginning in the area proposed for Wilderness designation by environmental groups in 1991.  The first of 39 miles of unnecessary and destructive “temporary” haul roads are being created by driving bulldozers over the area east of Willow Creek Horse…

A study by consultant Wyss Associates is developing an Appendix to the Feasibility Study for the Mickelson Trail Connector to Mount Rushmore.  The study is currently requesting public comments.  This Appendix was triggered by the Forest Service desire to relocate the Willow Creek Horse Camp, and to see if that decision could be coordinated with the potential Mickelson Connector options to enhance the recreational…

Forest Service MPB Response Project Website

(Objections were filed on October 22, 2012)…

The mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in the Central Black Hills has slowed considerably within the Norbeck Preserve in the past year, but is expanding rapidly in the Spring Creek drainage to the northwest, outside the Preserve, as shown in the photos below.  

These photos were taken from the last ridge within the Norbeck Preserve on the northwest boundary along Palmer Creek.  Additional photos from the Lost Cabin Trail can be seen…

The Forest Service is asking for public comments on the Byway Lakes Enhancement Project, that would dredge the sediments from Horsethief Lake and Lakota Lake in the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve (and Bismarck Lake near Custer State Park).

The dredging would deepen these lakes, lowering their water…

On June 10, 2011, the Hell Canyon District Ranger called for bids for 14,201 CCF (about 7 million board feet) of sawtimber from the Palmer Gulch Sale in the northern part of the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve.  The cutting units are shown in dark gray on the map below.

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Forest Service Vestal Project Website

Vestal Project Draft EIS December 30, 2011 (8.6 mb)…

The public has until May 16, 2011, to submit comments on the proposed Forest Management Rule governing activities on our National Forest and the required contents of Forest Plans and regulations.

Overview of Concerns

As a supporter of Friends of the Norbeck and someone who…