The Norbeck Wildlife Preserve is one of the wildest, woolliest and scenic places in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It spreads across more than 34,000 acres in the granite-spired heart of the Black Hills. The Black Elk Wilderness, Harney Peak, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial are within its boundaries.

It was named for Sen. Peter Norbeck,  the powerful politician who had a role in Black Hills projects such as Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park.

But the Norbeck is a sick forest these days, according to the National Forest Service. It’s overgrown in many places, beset by mountain pine beetles  in others. And it doesn’t have the same diverse wildlife habitat – hardwood trees, meadows – that it had when President Coolidge created it in 1920.

State and federal agencies are embarking on a project to improve the wildlife habitat in the Norbeck. Options include pine tree thinning, prescribed burns and possibly ome timber sales.

“It’s a new day in the Norbeck because conditions have also changed dramatically in past decades,” said Lynn Kolund, Hell Canyon District Ranger. “The high quality habitat that was there when Senator Norbeck first rode those ridges to establish that special area is now largely gone, replaced by dense vegetation, partly as a result of suppression of forest fires in the area.”

The agencies are currently putting together an environmental impact statement for the project, which should be completed this fall.

Check out the Forest Service website for more information. /blackhills