South Dakota Field Office
| Contacts: | Mark Jacobsen 406-233-2831 |
BLM to conduct prescribed burns
The Bureau of Land Management is planning to conduct prescribed burns near the Hearst subdivision near Lead and areas on the Fort Meade Recreation Area, beginning the week of Oct. 5 and ending by the last week of November.
The BLM will treat about 50 acres west of the Hearst Subdivision near Lead. About 780 acres are scheduled to be burned in the northern half of the Fort Meade Recreation Area north of the Fort Meade VA Hospital and State Highway 34; west of State Highway 79. Approximately 170 acres are scheduled for burning in the southern half of the Fort Meade Recreation Area; south of the Fort Meade VA Hospital and east of the Alkali Creek Campground and Interstate 90.
Weather permitting; burns are scheduled to be completed by the end of November.
Smoke will be visible from Interstate 90, State Highway 34, State Highway 79, Sturgis and Lead. Smoke will be monitored to minimize impacts to sensitive areas. The BLM Road (Back Country Byway) will be closed to through traffic while burning is taking place in the southern half of Fort Meade.
Questions may be directed to South Dakota Field Office Fire Management Specialist, Travis Lipp at (605) 210-0741.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
South Dakota Field Office 310 Roundup Street Belle Fourche, SD 57717-1698