United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Forest 

Service 

Black Hills 

National 

Forest 

Mystic Ranger District 

8221 South Highway 16 

Rapid City, SD 57702 

Phone 605-343-1567 Fax 605-343-7134

 Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recycled Paper

File Code: 1950-Calumet Project Area 

Date: September 4, 2012 

Greetings from the Black Hills National Forest: 

Black Hills National Forest (BHNF) personnel recently completed a Final Environmental Impact 

Statement (FEIS) for the Calumet Project Area. The project area lies approximately six miles 

southwest of Rapid City, SD. Sheridan Lake is also located within the project area. The project 

covers approximately 31,772 acres. The project area consists of 27,617 acres of National Forest 

System lands, as well as, 4,155 acres of interspersed private lands. 

Title I of the HFRA focuses primarily on expedited hazardous fuel treatment projects on NFS lands that 

are at risk of wildland fire, including insect infestations. The Calumet Project qualifies as an authorized 

hazardous fuel reduction project under HFRA Section 102(a)(4). This section of the Act specifies what 

project characteristics authorize a given project to be planned and implemented under various provisions 

of the Act. 

The purpose of and need for the Calumet Project: 

• Moves existing land and resource conditions toward desired conditions as specified in the

Forest Plan. 

• Reduce the threat to ecosystem components, including forest resources, from the existing 

mountain pine beetle epidemic. 

• Help protect local communities and resources from large-scale wildfire by reducing hazardous 

fuels. 

I have enclosed a copy of the Calumet Project Area FEIS. Chapters 1 and 2 provide background and 

comparison of alternatives for many readers to judge the relative merits of the various alternative 

approaches to reducing the rapidly expanding mountain pine beetle epidemic and the potential for severe 

wildfire, and other issues. More detail on the effects of alternatives is presented in Chapter 3. 

This FEIS discloses the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects resulting from the No 

Action Alternative (Alternative A) and the Proposed Action (Alternative B). My Preferred Action is 

Alternative B. 

The analysis for this project was completed under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act authority. The 

decision(s) based on the Final EIS for this project will be made following the pre-decisional objection 

process, pursuant to Forest Service regulations at 36 CFR 218.7. The objection period will end 30-days 

following publication of the legal notice in the Rapid City Journal, Rapid City, South Dakota, which is 

expected to occur on September 8, 2012. The publication date of the legal notice is the exclusive means 

for calculating the time to file an objection. Eligibility to file an objection is limited to those individuals 

and organizations who submitted specific written comments related to the project during scoping or during 

the public comment period on the draft EIS (36 CFR 218.7). 
Any objections to this project must be filed in writing. Written objections may be submitted to: 

USDA – Forest Service, Supervisor’s Office, Attn: Ed Fischer, 1019 N. 5th Street, Custer, SD 57730. 

Objections may be submitted in electronic form to: appeals-rocky-mountain-black-hills@fs.fed.us In 

electronic objections, the subject line should contain the name of the project. An automated response 

will normally confirm receipt of an objection; however, if a person filing an objection does not receive 

such a response it is the responsibility of the objector to ensure their objection is received in a timely 

manner. Electronic objections must be readable in MS Word, Rich Text Format (rtf), or portable 

document format (pdf). Any objection must meet the content requirements of 36 CFR 218.8. Any

decision on this project will not be appealable under 36 CFR 215 or any other authority. 

The responsible official for this document is Jon Stansfield, Acting District Ranger, Mystic Ranger 

District, phone (605) 343-1567. For more information on this project, contact me, Lou Conroy or 

Jessica Eggers at the Mystic Ranger District office in Rapid City at (605) 343-1567. For information 

on the objection process, contact Ed Fischer at (605) 673-9207. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ Jon Stansfield 

JON STANSFIELD 

Acting District Ranger 

Enclosure: 

Calumet Project Area FEIS