65 



are, of course, deeply intertwined, due to the legal requirement to review all road- 

 less lands for wilderness designation during forest plan revision. 



BLACK HILLS FOREST PLAN REVISION 



The Black Hills are managed neither for multiple-use nor sustained yield, but 

 rather for short-term timber goals. The Black Hills National Forest is far and away 

 the most developed, suburbanized, and intensively managed forest in the Forest 

 Service's Region 2, which includes Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, 

 and Kansas. With 84 percent of its total acreage devoted to an intensive logging pro- 

 gram, the Black Hills produce over 42 percent of the region's timber. 



This intensive timber program is threatening to undermine the ecological health 

 of the Black Hills, on which all small business jobs ultimately depend. We have ex- 

 tensive concerns regarding what is being proposed for the Forest Plan Revision, and 

 also for what is being omitted from revision. A major portion of our concerns relate 

 to the maintenance of viable populations of wildlife species, which in turn reflect 

 the overall environmental health of the Black Hills. We have particular concerns 

 for riparian, forest interior, and old growth habitat, and their associated species. 



Also of great concern is the declining amounts of security habitat for big game 

 animals such as deer and elk. This is aggravated by the extremely high open road 

 density in the Black Hills, and is having significant negative impacts on big game 

 hunting, and the associated small businesses. 



The timber emphasis is producing rotation ages too short to provide for much of 

 the beneficial uses associated with our National Forests, such as aesthetics, recrea- 

 tion, wildlife, water quality, and reduced fire risk. The aggregate effects of all these 

 negative timber impacts is outweighing the positive contributions to lumber-related 

 businesses. Timber projects are becoming too large, and expensive, for small con- 

 tractors or local mills to bid on. Most independent contractors have already been 

 pushed off the public land. Unless major changes are made in the priorities on the 

 Black Hills National Forest, timber concentration in the hands of out-of-State corpo- 

 rations will continue. 



We have repeatedly asked that the important topic of recreation, with its miriad 

 related small business, be included as a Revision Topic. Recreation is already the 

 dominant economic force in the public lands of western South Dakota, much larger 

 than timber and grazing combined (see "National Forest Contributions to Local 

 Economy" attachment). This has occurred despite underfunding of recreation pro- 

 grams, and low priority for non-commodity uses on the Black Hills National Forest 

 and Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. 



SOUTH DAKOTA WILDERNESS ACT 



Over 95 percent of the wilderness lands in the United States lie west of the 100th 

 meridian, which roughly bisects the Dakotas. Over 60 percent lie in Alaska. Almost 

 all the remainder lies in the 11 western States. 



In surrounding States, such as Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, 4 to 5 percent 

 of total land is in wilderness (see "Where's the Wilderness" attachment). In South 

 Dakota, we have less than one-acre per square mile, or 0.16 percent, and most of 

 that lies in the Sage Creek Wilderness Area in the Badlands. Out of the 1.2 million 

 acres of the Black Hills, less than 8,000 are in the single Black Elk Wilderness Area 

 surrounding Harney Peak, representing less than % of 1 percent of Forest lands. In 

 the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, no acres are in wilderness. 



Situated on the eastern boundary of "The West", the areas in southwestern South 

 Dakota proposed for wilderness designation are ideally located to take advantage of 

 the flow of vacationers and recreationists heading west to the attractions of the 

 northern Rockies (Yellowstone, Glacier). These designations can be expected to in- 

 crease tourism interest in South Dakota, with its resultant positive impacts for 

 recreation-oriented small businesses. Other newer businesses, such as film-making, 

 can also be expected to benefit from the protection of the beauty of these wild lands. 

 After all, no Tourism Bureau ever rushed to print maps of the newest timber sale 

 areas. Wilderness will definitely benefit tourism, which is South Dakota's "indus- 

 try" of the future. 



The South Dakota Wilderness Act would designate an additional 57,100 acres of 

 Black Hills National Forest as wilderness, bringing the total up to around 5 percent 

 of forest lands. These areas are, in descending order of size: Pilger Mountain, 12,600 

 acres; Black Fox, 12,400 acres; Sand Creek, 9,700 acres; Black Elk Additions, 8,200 

 acres; Stagebarn Canyons, 7,300 acres; and Breakneck, 6,900 acres. Maps and de- 

 scriptions of these areas are presented in the colored attachment. 



