504 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



SYLVAN LAKE, A VERY POPULAR SUMMER RESORT OF THE BLACK HILLS 



and ribald champagne party, though such things doubt- 

 less should not be mentioned in these Volstead and pus- 

 syfoot times. 



The Peak is nearly eight thousand feet above sea-level 

 and commands a view of four states, approximating 

 about forty thousand square miles of view. There are 

 few places a person can go and see so much for the 

 money. The Hills are now a national park under the 

 jurisdiction of the United States Forest Service and an 

 observatory is maintained on Harney Peak, where a 

 guard is stationed who watches for forest fires and beau- 

 tiful female tourists. 



One of the interesting things in the Hills, to the aver- 

 age stranger, is the work of the Forest Service, which 

 maintains several fire guards 

 on the highest peaks, while 

 scattered throughout the en- 

 tire territory are ranger sta- 

 tions, where live the men of 

 the forests who fight the con- 

 flagrations. 



There is an average of 

 about thirty fires a summer 

 in the Hills, twenty per cent 

 due to carelessness, the rest 

 mostly caused by lightning. 

 Since the Forest Service took 

 over the Black Hills in 1906, 

 it is estimated that several 

 hundred thousand dollars 

 worth of timber has been 

 saved from destruction owing 

 to preventative measures and 

 prompt action. 



Harney Peak, which is the 

 central, highest and most im- 

 portant of the fire stations, is 

 three miles from Sylvan Lake, 

 the big summer resort of the 

 Hills and one of the most 

 beautiful spots God ever made, 

 assisted by the State of South 

 Dakota. Here is an ice-cold 

 lake, clear as crystal, sixty 

 feet deep, the shores largely 

 of gigantic granite rocks and 

 the whole perched up more 

 than six-thousand feet above 

 the sea. Also it is filled with 

 delicious bass and trout, 

 though I do not know how 

 they got up that high. 



At the lake is a large hotel, 

 together with several cot- 

 tages , cabins and camp 

 grounds which take care of 

 the thousands of tourists and 

 hay-fever hounds who visit the spot each year. A few 

 months ago the State of South Dakota took charge of 

 the resort and a great many improvements have been 

 and are being made upon it. Those who have visited 

 the Lake during the past few years will doubtless be 

 pleased to know that when they come back this year the 

 roof will not leak any more, besides which the dancing 

 pavilion will be enlarged, there will be a pool hall, elec- 

 tric lights which light, plenty of running and jumping 

 water, several new baths, a garage and all the modern 

 conveniences, except mosquitoes. 



The State and Forest Service also have built several 

 new roads and repaired the old ones throughout the 

 Hills so that it no longer is necessary to leave the 



A BEAUTIFUL SCENE ALONG THE GRANITE SHORES OF SYLVAN LAKE 



