Preservation Thursday: The Origin of the Black Hills National Forest: 1875-1907

The story begins in 1876 amidst the Black Hills Gold Rush that triggered settlement in the Black Hills. Gold miners needed large volumes of timber for placer mining, and even larger volumes as they followed surface gold to its underground sources. Add to that the demands of domestic and other industrial users for timber that soon followed – railroads, flume line builders, and fuel wood for mill boilers – and you find a frontier economy with a voracious appetite for timber. Frontiers were notorious for depleting renewable resources such as timber and water. What was unusual was how this pine forest was transformed into the Black Hills National Forest. The lecture will be presented by David Miller, a citizen with decades of involvement in renewable resource conservation policy. Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center; 12:00 p.m.; admission by donation.