Appendix C Calumet Project Area Past and Present Activities 

APPENDIX C 

PAST AND PRESENT 

and 

FORESEEABLE ACTIVITIES

Appendix C Calumet Project Area Past and Present Activities C - 1 

APPENDIX C – PAST, PRESENT, and FORESEEABLE ACTIVITIES in the CALUMET 

PROJECT AREA 

Much of the activity that has occurred within the project area has been timber sales and related 

activities, which include: 

Table 1. Past Timber Sales 

 *Active Sales 

 **Approximate treated acres within Calumet Project Area 

Sale AwardAcres * Silviculture 

System

Silvicultural Treatment(s)

Bitter Creek Roundwood 1965 292 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Custer Gulch 1970 19 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Empress 1977 29 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Burnt Ranch 1978 1,995 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

North Sheridan 1978 151 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Powerline 1980 102 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Commissary 1981 1,649 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Deadman 1982 788 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Bluelead 1982 194 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Baker Park #1 1982 1,739 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Calumet 1984 760 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Coon 1984 528 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Southshore 1985 185 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Baker Park 1985 1,781 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Horse 1987 1,194 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Bobtail 1987 771 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Samelias 1988 341 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning, Seed Cuts, Hardwood 

Restoration

Strato 1990 276 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning, Meadow Creation

Reder 1991 196 NA Meadow Creation

Horse Creek Salvage 1991 14 NA Salvage of Burned Timber

Sisters 1993 940 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning, Seed Cut, Meadow 

Restoration

Whisper 1994 296 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Gordon 1996 434 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Hollow 2002 774 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning, Seed Cut, Overstory 

Removal, Salvage of Burned Timber

Bald Hills 2002 53 NA Meadow Retention

Bitter 2003 2,952 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning, Overstory Removal, 

Hardwood Retention, Salvage of Burned Timber

Dark Canyon 2005 8 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

Rockerville 2011 120 Shelterwood Commercial Thinning

TOTAL 18,581 
Appendix C Calumet Project Area Past and Present Activities C - 2 

Table 2. Approximate Acres for Past Activities: (Activities recorded since 1982) 

Activity Description Units 

Biocontrol of Invasive Species 155 Ac. 

Broadcast Burning – Covers a Majority of the Unit 8,335 Ac. 

Burning of Activity Fuels Piles 1,922 Ac. 

Certificaiton of Natural Regeneration without Site Prep 1,890 Ac. 

Commercial Thinning 17,104 Ac 

Hardwood Retention - Commercial 35 Ac 

Inland Fish Habitat Inventory 75 Ac. 

Invasive Species Treatment 11,658 Ac. 

Leave Trees – Wildlife 70 Ac. 

Man-Caused Fire Damage 47 Ac. 

Meadow Creation – Wildlife 401 Ac. 

Meadow Restoration 41 Ac 

Meadow Retention 53 Ac 

Non-commercial Thinning 453 Ac 

Overstory Removal 73 Ac 

Patch Clearcut 386 Ac 

Piling of Fuels, Hand or Machine 29 Ac. 

Rearrangement of Natural Fuels 69 Ac. 

Salvage Cut (Intermediate Treatment, not Regeneration) 379 Ac. 

Seed Tree Cut 379 Ac 

Special Cut 15 Ac 

Stand Examination Data Collection 26,809 Ac. 

Stocking Surveys 538 Ac. 

T&E Species Survey 83 Ac. 

Thinning for Hazardous Fuels Reduction 21 Ac. 

Timber Harvest Evaluation 543 Ac. 

Timber Stand Improvement – Thinning 334 Ac. 

Watershed Resource Non-Structural Improvements 

Erosion Control 

11 Ac. 

Wildlife Habitat Inventory 2,319 Ac. 

Wildlife Habitat Mechanical Treatment 84 Ac. 

Wildlife Habitat Prescribed Fire 394 Ac. 

Wildlife Habitat Regeneration Cut 361 Ac. 

Wildlife Habitat Rehabilitate Openings 53 Ac. 

Wildlife Habitat Release and Weeding 130 Ac. 

Yarding – Removal of Fuels by Carrying or Dragging 194 Ac 
Appendix C Calumet Project Area Past and Present Activities C - 3 

Present / Foreseeable Actions 

The project area contains overhead and underground distribution and transmission power utility 

lines under special use permits to Black Hills Electric Cooperative, Quest, and Golden West 

Telephone. Maintenance is ongoing for these facilities. 

Firewood gathering and Christmas tree cutting by permit will continue to occur within the area. 

Road / Utility right-of-way clearing – Road construction and maintenance and right-of-way 

brushing can be expected to continue on non-National Forest System lands. 

Subdivision development - Given current trends, it is likely that additional private lands may be 

subdivided and new residences constructed. Special use permits such as utility, water line, 

rights-of-way, and access/easements may be requested. 

Private landowners may harvest timber on their own lands to reduce mountain pine beetle and 

fire hazard and for lumber. 

Range developments and livestock grazing - Includes fencing, dugouts, wells, spring 

developments, etc. Cattle grazing would continue. 

Wildfires - The frequency, size and intensity of possible wildfires depend upon various factors, 

including weather, ignition means, and fuels loadings. 

Mining activity – Currently, there are 12 active locatable minerals mining claims within the 

project area. It is likely that there would be some additional mining claims reviewed within the 

project area, as well as mine shaft closures due to safety and/or bat/wildlife concerns. 

Recreation – Recreation activities will continue to increase on the Forest. General maintenance 

would continue to occur for all other developed recreation sites within the project area. 

Treatments to reduce or eliminate noxious weeds and invasive species would continue on NFS 

and private property. 

The Black Hills National Forest issued a FEIS/ROD (May 7, 2010) designating routes for motorized 

use forest-wide. Implementation began on December 1, 2010 with the Motorized Vehicle Use Map 

(MVUM) for the Black Hills National Forest. 

Black Hills Power (BHP) plans to construct a Teckla-Osage-Lange 230 Kv Transmission line from 

the Teckla Substation in Wyoming to the Osage Substation in Wyoming to the Lange Substation in 

South Dakota (NW of Rapid City). Part of the project area would go through the northwest corner 

of the Calumet Project Area. 

The South Dakota Department of Transportation is currently developing Environmental Analysis 

documents for the Sheridan Lake Road Re-Route Project. 
Appendix C Calumet Project Area Past and Present Activities C - 4 

The Forest is currently analyzing the Mountain Pine Beetle Response Project, which 

encompasses approximately 250,000 acres of National Forest System lands in South Dakota and 

Wyoming. The Proposed Action would treat recently infested MPB areas within 242,000 acres 

of ‘High Risk’ stands on National Forest System lands to reduce and slow the spread of MPB, 

and reduce wildfire hazard on the Forest. Integrated Pest Management techniques are proposed 

for areas that are at high risk and most susceptible to MPB infestation, with the objective of 

treating and removing infested trees before beetles can disperse. None of these proposed 

treatments associated with the Mountain Pine Beetle Response Project would occur within the 

Calumet Project Area.