The Sundance Times Page 6
Thursday, April 6, 2015
Black Hills National
Forest announces 2015
Moon Walk schedule
The Black Hills National Forest announces the Moon Walk
interpretive program schedule for the 2015 season. This pro-
gram is in its 20th year and it introduces Forest visitors to
the cultural and natural history of the Black Hills.
"Over 14,000 visitors have attended the 135 Moon Walk
programs since 1996. Consistently an average of 100 people
attends each program, although, we have seen as many as
385 people attend one program a couple years ago," said Amy
Ballard, Moon Walk Coordinator. "Over the past 20 years, I
hope that these programs have fostered an understanding
and appreciation for the cultural and natural resources of
the Black Hills and inspired participants to be stewards of
the land."
Moon Walks are held on a Saturday night close to the official
full moon and begin at 7:00 p.m. Most programs last for 1-2
hours and visitors walk an average of 1 mile round trip. As
each Moon Walk nears, specific directions to individual pro-
grams will be posted on the Black Hills National Forest web-
site at www.fs.usda.gov/blackhills or call {605) 343-1567.
2015 Moon Walk Schedule
May 2 - Celebrate Wildfire Awareness Week: This walk is
located in the central Black Hills. Forest Service prescribed
fire personnel will walk participants through the Prairie pre-
scribed bum area while discussing the ecological need and
benefits of fire in a ponderosa pine ecosystem.
June 6 - Partners Building Grassland Conservation Op-
portunities: This walk is located on a private ranch that bor-
ders Badlands National Park in Conata Basin, east of the
Black Hills. Experience the vibrancy and history of the grass-
lands with The Nature Conservancy and learn about a pro-
posed land exchange that would provide future generations
of national forest users with grazing and wildlife conservation
opportunities.
June 27 - Botany: This walk is located in the northern
Black Hills. Join forest botanists as they discuss the lesser
known tree species growing in the Black Hills and their im-
portant contributions in providing habitat diversity in this
ponderosa pine dominated ecosystem. This program is in
memory of Andrew Korth, USFS botanist, 2008-2010.
July 25 - Custer's Expedition in 1874: This walk is lo-
cated in the western Black Hills. Hike with the Forest Service
to one of the photo points used by Custer's photographer W.
H. Illingworth and learn about the Custer Expedition through
the soldier's diary entries and newspaper stories.
August 29 - Geologic Slides a Mile Wide: This walk is
located in the northwest comer of the Black Hills National
Forest in the Bearlodge Mountains of Wyoming. Join a For-
est Service geologist to learn about interesting and unique
geologic features of the area including the North Redwater
drainage slide area.
September 26 -Fire Lookout Towers and Their Keepers:
This' walk is :located in the southern Black' Hills. Be inspired
at one of the most beautiful scenic overlooks in the Black
Hills as a Forest Ranger from the past describes a day in the
life of a fire lookout at a Forest Service fire tower and cabin.
Inyan Kara Homemakers
The Inyan Kara Homemakers' club met March 25, 2015 in
the home of hostess Vickie Connett. President Peggy Symonds
called the meeting to order and Vickie led us in reciting the
Pledge of Allegiance. Four members answered roll call by
sharing a song that had special meaning to them, from their
childhood. We each then shared a Thought for the Day.
The minutes of last month's meeting were read and ap-
proved. The treasurer reported no change in the accounts
from last month.
We talked about the upcoming Council meeting (Homemak-
ers' Hobby Day) to be held on April 18 (a change from the pre-
viously announced date of April 11). Our club is scheduled to
be hostess for that meeting, which includes being responsible
for the main dish. Discussion followed.
JoAnne read the recent letter from the Sundance commu-
nity bell choir. No action was taken at this time. The annual
quilt show will be on June 27.
The annual blood draw dates are April 4, 11 and 18. We
talked about our club's participation, as Peggy had not re-
ceived any word requesting our help. Barb called and talked
with Ken Madsen at the hospital and found out the blood
draw will be held in the old high school gym. We decided that
we can help on the 1 lth, as the 4th is the Saturday between
Good Friday and Easter Sunday and the 18th is the next
council meeting. Barb will speak with Ken in person and give
him this information.
Our club will provide cake and ice cream for the Long Term
Care birthday party in May. Further plans will be made at our
next meeting.
There was no more business and the meeting was adjourned.
After a time of refreshments and visiting, we were invited to
hear Roger demonstrate the karaoke.
Submiffed by JoAnne Moore
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BY SARAH PRIDGEON
At this month's regular meeting, the
County Commissioners discussed a variety
of methods through which to gather com-
ments and input from the community on the
proposed name change for the Devils Tower.
Local input is vital, they say, and ensuring
that everyone has an opportunity to air their
thoughts is the goal.
The commission decided to take a multi-
pronged approach, making comment forms
available through physical locations, the
county web page and visits to council and
chamber of commerce meetings in Sun-
dance, Moorcroft and Hulett.
Commissioner Kelly Dennis noted that
some comments have already been re-
ceived.
"They're mostly one-sided," he told the
room.
The county would like to solicit as much
input as possible to compile for the State
Board on Geographic Names and the U.S.
Board on Geographic Names. As described
by Dennis, the commission would like to
know the local effects of changing the name
from "Devils Tower" to "Bear Lodge", as sug-
gested in the proposal submitted by Chief
Arvol Looking Horse, spiritual leader of the
Great Sioux Nation.
How would doing so affect the personal
lives of people in Crook County and their
family traditions and histories, he asked,
and what effects would it have on business-
es in the region?
"There are a lot of individual businesses
that depend on that name," he said.
The commissioners agreed to create a
comment form asking questions related to
the name change. This will be distributed in
various ways; among the suggestions were
an insert in the newspaper, availability at
the County Clerk's Office and libraries and
the ability to print the form from the county
website.
Commissioner Jeanne Whalen also sug-
gested that each commissioner visit a town
within the county to attend a council and
chamber meeting and collect comments at
that time. She commented that each city has
committed to sending an alert of the time
and date within residents' bills should the
commission wish to do this.
The commissioners divided the towns be-
tween them, with Commissioner Steve Stah-
la taking Sundance, Dennis taking Moorcroft
and Whalen taking Hulett. They estimated
that they will schedule their visits in June
or thereabouts, as the deadline for collecting
comments is expected to be September 1.
Robyn Finch told the commission that the
Crook County Promotion Board is also will-
ing to help distribute the comment forms and
collate the responses.
The commissioners did express concern
that some of the comments received already
have been worded strongly or contained in-
flammatory language. More positive wording
is likely to be received better by the State and
U.S. Boards on Geographic Names.
"It's their right of free speech to say how
they feel, but it's maybe not helping the
cause," explained County Clerk Linda Fritz.
Over the next month, the County Commis-
sioners plan to review a draft comment form
prepared by County Attorney Joe Baron. They
will finalize dates for city visits and methods
of distributing the survey at the next regular
meeting.
@
City agrees to work with
school district on Central
Office relocate
ing and make the purchase during the fiscal
funding year 2016, or possibly 2017.
Brooks commented that the site would be
a good choice for the school in terms of size,
efficiency and ability to tap into the geother-
mal field under construction for the new el-
,BY SARAH PR!DGEON ementary school, e > plained that the grant
: throu which fliC tetittl .dO B b"uilt
The cit / of Sundance "has a ed' to"work requires eCla l"to be s d recrea on;in
with the Crook County School District Board perpetuity, so the City would need to recon-
of Trustees to explore relocating the school
district's administration building to the site
on which the city's tennis courts are current-
ly located.
Superintendent Byron Stutzman addressed
the council last week regarding the future of
Central Office, asking whether the city would
be amenable to the idea of selling the land.
The school district, said Mayor Paul Brooks,
needs a "good faith indication" that the city is
interested in moving.
The board has selected the tennis court site
as its first choice to build a new adminis-
trative office, said Stutzman, but needs the
city's approval before moving forward. Ap-
praisals have been ordered, he explained,
but the board needs to know whether this is
a viable option.
The next step, he said, would be to apply
to the School Facilities Commission for fund-
struct them elsewhere in town.
"Who is responsible for finding a new spot
for the tennis courts?" questioned Council
Member Ken Denzin.
Stutzman responded that he is hoping the
appraisal will come in high enough to provide
the funds for relocating the courts and said
that finding a new location will be one of the
steps that the two entities will need to work
through as the project moves forward.
A number of things will come into play, he
added, such as vacating the Central Office
building and the future of the old elementa-
ry school. The corner of the elementary site
could work as it already has basketball facili-
ties and is close to the pool.
The council expressed their approval with
moving forward and looking into the tennis
courts as an option for the relocation of the
school district's administrative building.
Sundance Laureate Tau
The 326 meeting of Sundance Laureate Tau
PL2073 Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi met on
March 23, 2015, at 7 p.m. in the Sundance
State Bank meeting room with Jacquie McIn-
emey and Gail Kaiser as hostesses. We had
eleven of our sixteen members present.
We held the pledge ritual for our new mem-
bers and feel honored to have them join us.
Marjorie Goodson was published in the
Torch Magazine for receiving the Torch Bear-
er award for her many years of service.
Jacquie handed out survey forms for next
year and asked us to please turn them in at
our next meeting on April 13.
We finalized plans for the Pinochle mara-
thon card party which will be held Sunday
afternoon, April 12 at 1p.m. in the Sundance
State Bank meeting room.
Pauline handed out pins and charms that
people had ordered.
Discussion was held regarding the Easter
Egg Hunt which will be held on Saturday,
April 4. Jacquie, Jackie, Ilene and Karl will
help with the Easter Egg Hunt.
Our next meeting will be held on April 13,
2015, at 7 p.m. at the Sundance State Bank
meeting room with Janel Couture as hostess.
Please bring scissors. We will be making May
baskets.
Gall gave a program about her trip to Eu-
rope. Jacquie and Gaff served German and
Swiss refreshments.
The 327th meeting of Sundance Laureate
Tau PL2073 Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi met
on April 13, 2015, at 7 p.m. in the Sundance
State Bank meeting room with Janel Couture
as our hostess.
President Jacquie McInerney called the
meeting to order. Roll call was taken with
thirteen of our sixteen members present.
The minutes for March were read and ap-
proved as corrected. Jacquie received the
invitation from Newcastle for Founder's
Day. Founder's Day will be held in Newcas-
tle on Sunday, April 26, from 2 to 4 p.m.
There will be a $5 charge for light refresh-
ments. Approximately ten of our members
plan to go. Please meet at the Sundance
Elementary School parking lot at 1 p.m. to
carpool. Jacquie and Kari will drive.
Marjorie Goodson will be honored with
the Diamond Circle award at Founder's
Day. We will also honor our Woman of the
Year and out Pledge of the Year at Found-
er's Day.
Ilene reported that pledge training went
well. Kari reported that there were twenty
people who played cards at the Pinochle
marathon and that it also went well. Janel
reported that the Easter egg hunt was a
success and she appreciated the extra help.
Pauline will be sending in another order to
International on about May 1.
We voted for the Woman of the Year and
Pledge of the Year. The winners will be re-
vealed at Founder's Day in Newcastle on
April 26.
Our next meeting will be held on May
11, 2015, at 7 p.m. in the Sundance State
Bank meeting room with Jacquie Mclner-
ney as our hostess. We will be doing ritu-
als for Preceptor and Torch Bearer degrees.
Please wear black slacks or skirt with white
blouse and your vest or scarf.
Janel organized us in a fun session of
making May baskets. Janel served deli-
cious refreshments.
Submitted by Gall Kaiser
acres
Devils Tower National
Monument will implement a
prescribed burn during the
week of April 19. Fire man-
agement officials from the
Northern Great Plains Fire
Office and Devils Tower Na-
tional Monument plan to
bum 85 acres near the en-
trance of the Monument and
east of the Belle Fourche
River.
The burn is needed to re-
move build-up of dead fu-
els and woody herbaceous
growth and encourage the
growth of native prairie
grasses and forbs and lessen
the chances of possible wild-
land fires. Prescribed bums
return a key natural process
to the landscape, improve
the health of the ecosystem
under controlled conditions,
and lessen the chance of
wildland fires.
Prescribed bums are care-
fully planned, conducted
within an approved bound-
ary and ignited only under
specific weather conditions
such as humidity, fuel mois-
ture, wind speed and di-
rection and short and long
range weather forecasts. If
conditions are not accept-
able on the scheduled day
of the burn, it will be post-
poned until desirable condi-
tions return.
Devils Tower
amend list of
temporarily
closed climbing
routes
A previous closure of climb-
ing routes on the West Face
and Southwest shoulder is
amended closing the North-
east Face of the Tower to
climbing. Routes on the West
Face are now open for climb-
ing. A pair of peregrine fal-
cons was observed in court-
ship and nesting behaviors
on the Northeast face. The
amended climbing closure
includes 45 routes between
Belle Fourche Buttress and
Psychic Turbulence, and the
corresponding edges of the
summit.
A complete list of closed
routes can be found on the
park's web site, bulletin
boards throughout the Mon-
ument, the Climber Regis-
tration Office and the Visitor
Center.
Over one hundred and fif-
ty climbing routes remain
open. The annual temporary
closure, established under
the 1995 Climbing Man-
agement Plan, with author-
ity from the Migratory Bird
Treaty Act, is an annual oc-
currence at Devils Tower.
The closure is implemented
not only to protect the birds,
but also to protect climb-
ers, as falcons are known
to defensively dive in order
to protect their nests. The
presence of climbers near
or above falcon nests is dis-
tressing to parent birds,
disturbance from climbing
activities may force falcons
to abandon eggs or chicks.
Climbers are asked to report
any defensive falcon behav-
ior to a park ranger.
"Failure to comply with the
temporary closure may re-
sult in a fine and or 6 months
in jail." said Drew Gilmour,
Chief of Law Enforcement.
"All climbers must register
at the climbing office before
beginning their ascent,"
To learn more about Devils
Tower National Monument,
contact 467-5283, vis-
it us at www.nps.gov/
deto or www.facebook.com/
Devils-Tower-National-Mon-
ument-Official-NPS- Site.
i
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