The US Forest Service has announced plans to log, thin and burn trees on more than 40,000 acres of woodland in the Black Hill National Forest in order to mitigate the threat of fires and halt a mountain pine beetle epidemic.
Some 27,000 acres have been earmarked for mechanical treatment in the South Dakota forest, with a further 14,200 set for prescribed burning.
The action was outlined in the final environmental impact statement for the Upper Spring Creek project.
The US Forest Service claims 150,000 acres of the 1.2 million acres that make up the Black Hills National Forest are affected by pine beetle attack, with the situation increasing in severity since the mid-1990s.
It has already carried out thinning and prescribed burning in the forest, saying the proof “is there for anyone to see”.
“Thinning is working to keep forests and communities healthy and growing and we have a lot more work ahead of us,” said Black Hills forest supervisor Craig Bobzien.
