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Black Hills National Forest |
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Find a Forest (NF)
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About UsBlack Hills National Forest
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Watch Video (WMP)
The Black Hills are in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming,
covering an area 125 miles long and 65 miles wide. They encompass rugged
rock formations, canyons and gulches, open grassland parks, tumbling streams,
deep blue lakes, and unique caves.
The Black Hills area has a rich, diverse cultural heritage.
Archaeological evidence suggests the earliest known use of the area occurred
about 10,000 years ago. Later Native Americans, such as the Arapaho,
Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Lakota, came to the Black Hills to seek visions and
to purify themselves. The Black Hills was also a sanctuary where tribes
at war could meet in peace.
Exploration of the Black Hills by fur traders and trappers occurred in
the 1840s. In 1874, General George A. Custer led an
Army exploration into the area and discovered gold. Settlement of the
Black Hills rapidly followed the discovery of gold. The need for wood
to build mines, railroads, towns and for use as a fuel increased demand
for timber. As settlement continued, agriculture and livestock grazing
added to the area's economic diversity.
A series of large forest fires in 1893 focused attention on the need to
protect the timber resource. On February 22, 1897, President Grover Cleveland
established the Black Hills Forest Reserve. This land
was protected against fires, wasteful lumbering practices, and timber
fraud. In 1898, the first commercial timber sale on
Federal forested land in the United States was authorized in the area
of Jim and Estes Creeks (near the town of Nemo). Cutting began around
Christmas 1899. In 1905, the Black Hills Forest Reserve was transferred
to the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Two years later it was renamed the Black Hills National Forest.
The Black Hills National Forest Visitor Center at Pactola Reservoir includes
exhibits on Black Hills natural history and a self-guiding nature trail.
The Visitor Center is open daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Congress established the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve in
1920 for the "protection of game animals and birds and to be recognized
as a breeding place therefore." The preserve covers about 35,000 acres,
25,000 of which are managed by the Forest Service. Most of the rest of
Norbeck is part of Custer State Park. Norbeck is home to a variety of
wildlife, including elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats. It
also contains rugged granite formations, small lakes, scenic drives, and
hiking trails.
Black Elk Wilderness is in the center of the Norbeck
Wildlife Preserve. The 13,605-acre wilderness was named for Black Elk,
an Oglala Lakota holy man. Congress established the wilderness on December
22, 1980; legislation in 2002 increased its size by 3,774 acres.
Harney Peak, at 7,242 feet above sea level, is the highest
point in the United States east of the Rockies. From a historic lookout
tower on the summit, one has a panoramic view of parts of South Dakota,
Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana, as well as the granite formations and
cliffs of the Black Elk Wilderness.
US Forest Service, Black Hills National Forest
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Last modified
October 23, 2007