Mountain Pine Beetle Infestation Aerial Flight

ForestNet Videocast: Aerial photography taken from a helicopter in the Black Hills National Forest Sunday and Monday, August 19 and 20, 2007 shows the devastating march of beetles across many areas of the Black Hills.
Particularly hard hit areas include upper Spring Creek near the Medicine Mountain Boy Scout Camp, the entire forested area around Harney Peak, the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve, parts of Custer State Park, and a large area around Deerfield Lake. Ponderosa pine forests that have been thinned, prescribed burned, and logged are shaking off worsening pine beetle attacks and increasingly difficult wildfires, officials say.

Black Hills National Forest News Release

Nebraska National Forest Bessy Tree Nursery

ForestNet Videocast: The Nebraska National Forest Bessy Tree Nursery maintains 46 acres of irrigated seedbeds, along with a controlled environment greenhouse. The Nursery also maintains the U.S. Forest Service's Region 2 Seed Bank. The Nursery extracts, cleans, and stores seed obtained from cones and berries supplied by its customers. The seed is used to grow seedlings for customers requesting seedlings or shipped to customers who want to directly sow the seed.

“Paha Sapa” – American Indian Use of the Black Hills

ForestNet Audiocast: Donovin Sprague, Director of Learning at Crazy Horse Memorial and Executive Director of First Nations Heritage Association presents “Paha Sapa” – American Indian Use of the Black Hills during a Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board (NFAB) meeting in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Forest Service Beretta Road Clean-up

ForestNet Videocast: In 2005, volunteers from the Black Hills area of western South Dakota came to the Beretta Road Clean-up located on the Black Hills National Forest. The clean-up was considered a huge success due to the volunteers showing up and making a committment to assist in keeping their public lands litter free.

"Experience The Outdoors" Day in the Black Hills

ForestNet Videocast: The Black Hills National Forest and its campground concessionaire, Forest Recreation Management, Inc. (FRM) held their second annual "Experience the Outdoors" (ETO) Day at the Horsethief Lake campground on Wednesday, September 13, 2006.
Approximately 60 to 80 developmentally disabled adults were the guests of FRM and the Forest Service at an event held to highlight the outdoor opportunities that can be found throughout the Black Hills National Forest.

Black Hills National Forest News Release

Lakota Reburial Ceremony in the Black Hills National Forest

ForestNet Videocast: On May 15, 2007 the remains of four tribal ancestors were reburied in the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota during a Lakota Ceremony.

Rev. Robert Two Bulls, a retired Episcopal priest, laid the remains to rest at a spot chosen by a Lakota spiritual leader. The four people, including two young girls and an adult male, are about 150 to 200 years old.

At one point, the remains of one of the girls was on public display. Her bones were sitting in museums and other collections until Donovin Sprague of First Nations Heritage Association stepped in to repatriate them.

Travel Planning Audiocast For 5-22-2007

ForestNet Audiocast: The Forest just wanted to take a few minutes to publish this videocast update of where we are in the travel planning process on the Black Hills National Forest. It's been a few months since we met with over 450 people in meetings in the Black Hills.

We have been very busy in the meantime, gathering information from you and from our staff specialists, working to finish our travel analysis, and starting to put together our initial proposal for you to look at later this summer.

Forest Supervisor Craig Bobzien took some time today to record his thoughts on videotape, and the Black Hills National Forest public affairs staff put together a ForestNet Videocast. We invite you to take a few minutes and listen to Craig's remarks.

If you have questions please contact: Tom Willems at twillems@fs.fed.us or (605) 673-9217, Frank Carroll at fcarroll@fs.fed.us or (605) 673-9216 or contact Craig direct at cbobzien@fs.fed.us or (605) 673-9200.

Thanks for your participation. You have helped shape our initial proposal and you will have another chance to participate in detail later this summer. Stay tuned...

Travel Planning Videocast For 5-22-2007

ForestNet Videocast: The Forest just wanted to take a few minutes to publish this videocast update of where we are in the travel planning process on the Black Hills National Forest. It's been a few months since we met with over 450 people in meetings in the Black Hills.

We have been very busy in the meantime, gathering information from you and from our staff specialists, working to finish our travel analysis, and starting to put together our initial proposal for you to look at later this summer.

Forest Supervisor Craig Bobzien took some time today to record his thoughts on videotape, and the Black Hills National Forest public affairs staff put together a ForestNet Videocast.

We invite you to take a few minutes and listen to Craig's remarks. If you have questions please contact: Tom Willems at twillems@fs.fed.us or (605) 673-9217, Frank Carroll at fcarroll@fs.fed.us or (605) 673-9216
or contact Craig direct at cbobzien@fs.fed.us or (605) 673-9200.

Thanks for your participation. You have helped shape our initial proposal and you will have another chance to participate in detail later this summer. Stay tuned...

Army Soldiers Prepare for War with Forest Service

ForestNet Videocast: In 2006, Soldiers of the Army’s legendary 10th Mountain Division turned to the traditions of the Old West, and specifically to Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers in the northern Rocky Mountains, for advice on how to properly pack donkeys and other animals. The U.S. Forest Service was among those that helped the US Army train for war in Afghanistan.
Forest Service News Release

Gifford Pinchot: Life of Leadership

Gifford Pinchot: Life of Leadership with Char Miller. This 2004 audio recording by Char Miller, Professor of History and Director of Urban Studies at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas reflects on the life and activism of Gifford Pinchot, founding Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. Char is a leading authority on U.S. Forest Service history. (Duration 1:02)

Bugtown Gulch Mountain Pine Beetle and Fuels Project

ForestNet Videocast: Bugtown Gulch Mountain Pine Beetle and Fuels Project in the Bear Mountain area six miles northwest of Custer, South Dakota.
The objective of the project is to slow the spread of insects in this heavily forested area that is intermingled with several homes and tracts of private land. An infestation of mountain pine beetles, the same insects that decimated the Beaver Park area a few years ago, will be treated by an aggressive combination of direct attack (removing infested trees) and thinning tree stands to promote trees that are more healthy and insect resistant.
The Bugtown Gulch project is the first in the Black Hills National Forest to be implemented under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003 . This legislation allows the Forest Service to approve insect and fuel-control projects in a streamlined manner that requires potential project opponents to surface potential problem areas up front.
In addition to providing a more healthy forest, the trees removed will be used for home construction and other wood products traditionally produced by the Black Hills forest products industry.

Dave Foreman, Founder of Earth First! and Director of the Rewilding Institute

ForestNet Podcast Topic: Dave Foreman, Founder of Earth First! and Director of the Rewilding Institute. ForestNet spoke with Dave while attending a U.S. Forest Service Public Affairs Conference in Santa Fe for the Rocky Mountain Region and Southwest Region. Host: Gary C. Chancey, Guest: Dave Foreman, Founder of Earth First! and Director of the Rewilding Institute, New Mexico.

Barometric Wind Research

"Jewel Cave Today" Topic: Recent and ongoing barometric wind research at Jewel Cave. Jewel Cave National Monument, a unit of the National Park Service located west of Custer, South Dakota introduces its first Podcast. What does the wind have to do with a cave anyway? How long is Jewel Cave going to get? Can you walk through the cave like you would walk on a sidewalk? The answer to these questions and more on this edition of Jewel Cave Today. Host: Gary C. Chancey, Guest: Mike Wiles, Jewel Cave National Monument, Cave Management Specialist, Custer, Dakota (Duration: 11:24)