Orange mound formations Badlands
The second month in the Black Hills has been very eventful. After one of the wettest early summers on record the Hills are still lush and green, very different than normal. In the office I hear people commenting on how streams are still running as well as the lack of fire ban. The lack of fire ban is one thing that has been great. Where I am staying there is a fire pit, so my roommates and I have been grilling and roasting marshmallows often.
The projects that my coworker and I have been working on are finally progressing. The fuels-wildlife project is done save a final walk-through, and let me say I am happy it is over. The work has yet to be scheduled, but will probably be completed next spring. What we are trying to do is improve mule deer winter forage range by removing ponderosa pine to release mountain mahogany. At the same time we are creating a meadow area on the flatter areas. When we were lying out and designing the different areas we ran into problems that I had never thought about much before. While some areas are better off on paper as mountain mahogany, the logistics of getting men and machine in to do the work prohibits its inclusion into the project. There are some areas that are over 120˚ slopes with loose shale “soil”, these areas while in need of management will not be included.
The other project for this summer is a timber sale. One nice thing about the BLM is that the timber sales are mainly about improving the health of the forest. The timber sale is on approximately 250 acres, however there are some areas that are canyons and will not be touched. It is these areas that some massive old ponderosa pine coexists next to an aspen stand, chokecherry, and the only oak in the Hills, bur oak. Being able to explore and see things that most people won’t is one of the hidden gems of this type of internship.
But it has not been all work and no play in the Black Hills, I am constantly amazed at what there is to do here. Some of them are amazing, others are pure tourist’s traps. One of the surprising finds is Custer State Park, this place has it all. They have one of the largest bison herds, elk, pronghorn, deer and a prairie dog town. There are also two very scary roads with amazing views of unique geologic landforms. What makes these roads scary are that they are so narrow there is not even a center line, along with almost constant blind turns and four single car tunnels. But it was worth it. The other CLM intern and I also went for a weekend trip to Badlands National Park, all I can say is that it is a great place to visit if you have the chance, just don’t feed the prairie dogs, they have plague! Our first night we were treated to an amazing lightning show, until it started pouring on us. It rained off and on all night, but my tent kept me dry. Looking forward to what the rest of the summer holds.
Trees in the Badlands!
Badlands Vista
Badlands Pinnacles
Badlands Drive