June 2020 • Nebraskaland 45
1,500 acres from Chadron Creek Ranch Wildlife Management
Area near U.S. Highway 385 to Deadhorse Road 4 miles to the
west. That burn, which will capitalize on dry conditions of the
season, has a goal of removing the fallen "jackstrawed" timber
that was scorched in 2012. That deadfall is complicating
noxious weed control and hindering access.
Bringing the Forest Back
Those who have long loved the Pine Ridge have resigned
themselves to the prediction they will never see it as rich
with big pines as it was. Although pine growth in burned
areas is occurring, ponderosas are slow-growing trees and
success is sporadic.
An eff ort to replant 10,000 pines on the hills south of
Chadron State College after wildfi re threatened the campus
and community in 2006 yielded virtually no surviving trees,
for instance. On the other hand, annual plantings of deciduous
trees and pines on Bighorn WMA, the Commission's property
that burned most intensely in 2012, have done well the
past few years. The U.S. Forest Service has planted about
2,200 acres of ponderosa pines and 50 acres of hardwoods
in riparian areas at points throughout the region. The Boy
Scouts of America planted pines at Fort Robinson State Park
for 25 years following the park's 1989 catastrophic wildfi re,
and have conducted similar operations at Chadron State Park
for the past fi ve years with some success.
Nevertheless, planting pines is largely avoided because it
is labor-intensive, unpredictable and costly. A much better
approach, offi cials say, is protecting pines still standing. "If we
want to ensure that there's a forested Pine Ridge in the future,
we need to protect these seed sources," McCartney said.
Regardless, the goal is not to get back to the way things
were, said Tim Buskirk, U.S. Forest Service district ranger.
"I would say we are on the way up when it comes to
recovery, but it's a relative term," Buskirk said. "Our goal isn't
to fi x everything that has changed. Our goal is to improve the
This sunrise at Bighorn Wildlife Management Area, where the 2012 wildfi re burned most intensely, shows there is still ample
beauty throughout the Pine Ridge.
