Badlands Residency Day 26
I learned so much today! Without having any real plan, I headed over to the v/c this morning to see whether one of the rangers was free to show me the aerial photographs he took of the park. A buddy flew him around the area a couple years ago, and he has a large stack of great shots. He was working the front desk, but we spent some time looking at images, periodically taking breaks when visitors came to the desk for information. Later I talked to the curator/archivist for the park (not sure of her exact title) to see whether she might know of any books in the library on the south unit that I didn't find. She did pull out a couple, and one is all on the history of Cuny Table, which might be helpful. I'm going to read it tomorrow. After discussing some more, she took me back to the museum storage facility, and dug through some boxes. Among things she found was a very promising box of materials related to the addition of the stronghold and palmer areas to the national monument (this all happened before badlands had national park status). She allowed me to take home one set of documents, and the rest I'll make an appointment to sit and go through.
The set I brought home is phenomenal. It is a documentation, with supporting materials, of the process of dividing up the former badlands bombing range lands. This stuff is from 1959-1967, and multiple agencies were given opportunities to request bombing range lands and state their arguments. Some of the groups represented include: USFS, fish and game, NPS, Oglala Sioux Tribe, and BIA (bureau of indian affairs). Really, really fascinating. Among the most interesting aspects is reading the NPS recommendation to add Sheep Mountain Table to Badlands, and then look at using what is now Stronghold and Palmer to create a Tribal park (similar to what the Navajo did with Monument Valley) or add them in to Badlands to make a national park. The park service did their research, too, scouting the current boundaries of these areas in consideration of including the most spectacular or unique land features while excluding the most fertile grazing lands for tribal use. That's why the borders look so crazy. The bombing range, which the government took ownership of during WWII, took 10% of the reservation's land, including much prime grazing land. The displaced tribal members were left searching for replacement housing and livelihood. Some ranchers were able to find other grazing land and move their herds while others had to quickly sell off livestock for less than market value. Some individuals found themselves homeless. That's another horrible story of its own. Back to what I was reading today. The NPS did scouting to determine what would be needed to make Stronghold and Palmer viable as public park land. They recommended specific road improvements, many of which have been done, and designated a large number of areas to be good options for scenic overlooks along a winding road at the south rim of both units. I'll be really curious to see how much, if any, of this shows up as the Tribal National Park plan develops. Really cool stuff to read about.
In addition to that excitement today, it looks like I'll be able to get into the south units much more in the next couple weeks. The chief ranger is looking to put together an intensive, multi-faceted training for the LE staff and others, and I'll be able to tag along to witness and be in the landscape I love.
Didn't get out much today, but I did run to the buttes at sunset:
The set I brought home is phenomenal. It is a documentation, with supporting materials, of the process of dividing up the former badlands bombing range lands. This stuff is from 1959-1967, and multiple agencies were given opportunities to request bombing range lands and state their arguments. Some of the groups represented include: USFS, fish and game, NPS, Oglala Sioux Tribe, and BIA (bureau of indian affairs). Really, really fascinating. Among the most interesting aspects is reading the NPS recommendation to add Sheep Mountain Table to Badlands, and then look at using what is now Stronghold and Palmer to create a Tribal park (similar to what the Navajo did with Monument Valley) or add them in to Badlands to make a national park. The park service did their research, too, scouting the current boundaries of these areas in consideration of including the most spectacular or unique land features while excluding the most fertile grazing lands for tribal use. That's why the borders look so crazy. The bombing range, which the government took ownership of during WWII, took 10% of the reservation's land, including much prime grazing land. The displaced tribal members were left searching for replacement housing and livelihood. Some ranchers were able to find other grazing land and move their herds while others had to quickly sell off livestock for less than market value. Some individuals found themselves homeless. That's another horrible story of its own. Back to what I was reading today. The NPS did scouting to determine what would be needed to make Stronghold and Palmer viable as public park land. They recommended specific road improvements, many of which have been done, and designated a large number of areas to be good options for scenic overlooks along a winding road at the south rim of both units. I'll be really curious to see how much, if any, of this shows up as the Tribal National Park plan develops. Really cool stuff to read about.
In addition to that excitement today, it looks like I'll be able to get into the south units much more in the next couple weeks. The chief ranger is looking to put together an intensive, multi-faceted training for the LE staff and others, and I'll be able to tag along to witness and be in the landscape I love.
Didn't get out much today, but I did run to the buttes at sunset: