95 



exceed $500 million. This campaign to push an environmental agenda at the ex- 

 pense of our economy and people now includes as converts the President and Vice- 

 President of the United States, and frankly threatens the well-being of our country, 

 but especially threatens the very existence of rural America. 



Unquestionably, the public lands of South Dakota have an excellent track record 

 of management. At the same time, residents of the Black Hills have benefited enor- 

 mously from the economic diversity and stability resulting from public land man- 

 agement. This has not been an issue of jobs versus the environment — indeed, the 

 Black Hills National Forest is an outstanding example of how we can have our pro- 

 verbial cake and eat it, too! 



In assessing environmental effects of management, we must first understand that 

 our forests and grasslands are naturally in a constant state of change. The Black 

 Hills in 1993 is far different than in 1874 when General Custer's photographer re- 

 corded them for posterity. I would like to briefly make some comparisons of several 

 areas of environmental concern. 



Forests 



Today's forests are much denser and cover many more acres than in 1874. The 

 forests are also much less diverse in both age and species distribution. Today's Black 

 Hills National Forest is dominated by a mature forest of Ponderosa Pine with far 

 fewer stands of aspen or birch. The average age of the forest is older, and the forests 

 are also much less fragmented than the forests of the late 1800's. 



Catastrophic wildfires and mountain pine beetle epidemics are much less frequent 

 in today's Black Hills than occurred naturally, due in large part to successful forest 

 management and access. However, the 6,000 acres of mountain pine beetle infesta- 

 tion last year west of Hill City, and the recent Galena and Westberry Trails fires 

 remind us of their constant threat. 



Wildlife 



Wildlife populations are dynamic, vary with available habitat and are often con- 

 flicting. Habitat which maximizes one species or group of species will often afford 

 only poor habitat for other species. With changes in the forests have come changes 

 to wildlife populations. In the increasingly mature forests of the Black Hills is one 

 of the few stable goshawk populations in the United States. The SD Department of 

 Game, Fish and Parks even allows collection of goshawk chicks (called eyas) for fal- 

 conry purposes. Pine martens, once extirpated in the Black Hills, have made a re- 

 markable comeback since their reintroduction in 1981; so well, that a limited trap- 

 ping season is now planned for 1996 by the SD Game, Fish and Parks Department. 



Elk numbers have increased from 550 in 1980 to 1,200 in 1992. Deer populations 

 have increased from 62,000 in 1980 to 85,000 in 1992, but seem to now be declining, 

 raising concerns about winter range and the closed canopy forest which reduces 

 forage and browse growth. Turkey populations have increased from 8,000 in 1980 to 

 15,000 in 1992, and now appear to have stabilized. Mountain lion sightings have in- 

 creased in the past decade, apparently benefiting from denser forest canopy condi- 

 tions and adjacent openings from logging and the browse created for deer and ro- 

 dents. Breeding bird surveys near Roubaix Lake and Custer clearly indicate stable 

 populations of Hairy Woodpeckers and Red Breasted Nuthatches, both species of in- 

 terest in forest management debates. 



The Norbeck Wildlife Preserve is one area which has decreasing wildlife popula- 

 tions, most notably the mountain goats, because of decreasing forage. But many 

 other species of wildlife are also less abundant in Norbeck because of reduced forage 

 availability beneath the dense forest cover. Ironically, it has been the Black Hills 

 Group of the Sierra Club that has delayed any management of Norbeck for the past 

 15 years by their appeals of every Forest Service decision related to Norbeck. 



Water 



Streamflows have declined from streams in the Black Hills. Streams such as Boul- 

 der Creek, which ran year-round as recently as the 1930's are now dry by early 

 spring, due in large part to evapo-transpiration from closed canopy Ponderosa Pine 

 stands on the forested slopes. Dr. Bob Gartner has conducted research near Pactola 

 Reservoir which clearly shows the effect of a dense Ponderosa Pine canopy on reduc- 

 ing the amount of soil moisture. 



Rangelands 



The 251 livestock permittees on the Black Hills National Forest graze an annual 

 22,300 animals on their allotments. The monitoring and evaluation of the land man- 



