Appendix A Section 30 Limestone Mining Project Public Involvement 

APPENDIX A 

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT 

Appendix A Section 30 Limestone Mining Project Public Involvement A-1 

APPENDIX A – PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT 

During project development and analysis period, collaboration efforts were made to involve, 

interact and cooperate with individuals and groups interested in the Section 30 Project. Part of 

this effort included public scoping as discussed below. 

Scoping is the process of obtaining public comments about proposed Federal actions to help 

determine the breadth of issues to be addressed by project actions. The Section 30 Project was 

entered into the Schedule of Proposed Actions (SOPA) in October of 2006. A scoping letter 

soliciting comments on the proposed action, potential concerns, and opportunities for managing

the Section 30 Project was mailed to approximately 172 members of the public, American Indian 

Tribes, other public agencies, organizations, adjacent landowners, and Forest Service specialists 

on October 12, 2006. A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS was published in the Federal 

Register on Friday, October 27, 2006. 

A public meeting was held for the invited public in Black Hawk, SD on November 07, 2006. At 

this meeting key members of the ID Team presented the project proposal to the public; questions 

were answered; and concerns and issues were solicited and documented for consideration. 

The public scoping period for this project ended on November 11, 2006. Comments were 

received in writing via regular mail, email, telephone, facsimile, and personal contact. 

A Corrected Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS was published in the Federal Register on 

Wednesday, October 7, 2009. The Corrected NOI was republished due to time lapse between the 

original publication of the NOI and the new estimated Draft and Final EIS publication dates. 

Below is a list of respondents and associated comment number(s) regarding the Section 30 Project. 

Comments and agency responses are summarized in the Scoping database held in the Project File. 

Comment Number / Name Comment Number / Name

001.1 Sachau, B

002.1 Sasse, M

003.1 SD DENR (Holm)

004.1 Hildebrant, R

005.1 Black Hills Electric Cooperative

006.1 Nelson, J

007.1 Kreb, R

008.1 Wermers, A

009.1 Kidner, E

010.1 White Butterfly, C

011.1 Grimm, M

012.1 - 012.2 VanSchoonhoven

013.1 Weimer, A

014.1 Kidner, O

015.1 – 015.2 Horlock, P

016.1 Allen, T

017.1 – 017.3 Ewert, L

018.1 – 018.5 Duba, M

019.1 Dummer, M

020.1 – 020.3 Michals, SDGFP Energy & Minerals Coordinator

021.1 Kidner, M

022.1 – 022.2 Mason, K

 023.1 – 023.6 Svoboda, EPA 

Appendix A Section 30 Project Public Scoping A-3 

Section 30 Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement Distribution List 

South Dakota Congressional: 

Senator Tim Johnson 

Senator John Thune 

Congresswoman Kristi Noem 

Native American Tribes: 

Tribal Chairman Yankton Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Chairman Crow Creek Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Northern Cheyenne Tribe 

President Rosebud Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Chairman Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe 

Cultural Preservation Office Three Affiliated Tribes 

Tribal Chairman Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Chairman Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Chairman Mandan Hidatsa & Arikara Tribes 

Tribal Chairman Eastern Shoshone Tribe 

Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Oglala Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Chairman Northern Arapaho Business Council 

Tribal Chairman Lower Brule Sioux Tribe 

Cultural Resource Office Lower Brule Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Standing Rock Sioux Tribe 

 Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Chairman Standing Rock Sioux Tribe 

 Grey Eagle Society 

President Northern Cheyenne Tribe 

President Oglala Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Chairman Cheyenne/Arapaho Tribes Of Oklahoma 

Tribal Chairman Santee Sioux Nation 

 Kiowa Ethnographic Endeavor For Preservation 

Tribal Chairwoman Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe 

Cultural & Heritage Program Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes Of Oklahoma 

Rosebud Sioux Tribe Sicangu Lakota Treaty Council Office 

Tribal Planner/Director Northern Cheyenne Tribe 

Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Rosebud Sioux Tribe 

Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Northern Arapaho Tribe

Federal, State, Local, and County Agencies: 

South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks 

Bureau of Land Management – South Dakota Field Office 

South Dakota State Historic Preservation Center 

South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources 

South Dakota Department of Transportation 

South Dakota Governor’s Office – Governor Dennis Daugaard 

Rapid City Mayor’s Office – Mayor Allan Hanks 
Appendix A Section 30 Project Public Scoping A-4 

Rapid City Chamber of Commerce 

Pennington County Commissioners 

Rapid City Public Library 

Pennington County Highway Department 

Planning and Review Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 

Environmental Protection Agency, Region VIII EIS Review Coordinator 

USDA APHIS PPD/EAD 

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service 

USDA National Agricultural Library Head, Acquisitions and Serials Branch 

NOAA Office of Policy and Strategic Planning 

US Army Engr. Northwestern Division 

USDI Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance 

US Coast Guard (USGC), Environmental Management CG-443 

FAA Great Lakes Region 

Federal Highway Administration 

US Dept. of Energy, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance 

General Public and Groups not listed above: 

Also, other groups or individuals who are known to have or may have interest in management of the 

National Forest (and specifically this project area) were included on a mailing list and contacted 

with a scoping letter. The mailing list is held in the Section 30 Project File. 

Additional Tribal Consultation 

A concerted effort was made to engage in consultation regarding the project with Tribal contacts 

known to have interest in management of the National Forest System lands. The proposed Section 

30 Project was discussed in formal government-to-government consultation meetings in 2002 and 

between 2006 and 2010 to define specific actions that would mitigate possible risks to historic 

properties and religious use sites. The 2002 consultation addressed a proposed land exchange 

between the BHNF and Pete Lien and Sons, Inc. with respect to the Section 30 Project (BHNF-SO 

2006a). The 2006 to 2010 consultations addressed the Pete Lien and Sons 2005 PoO in Section 30 

(Banks and Gesso 2005). Those invited to consult included the Advisory Council on Historic 

Preservation (ACHP), Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, 

Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Northern Arapaho Tribe, Northern Cheyenne 

Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, Standing Rock Sioux 

Tribe, Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota, Yankton Sioux Tribe, Banks and Gesso, PLS, and 

SD SHPO (BHNF-MRD 2005). Those who chose to participate in consultation included the 

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Northern Arapaho Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, 

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Banks and Gesso, PLS, SD SHPO, and Black Hills National Forest. 

Between 2006 and 2010, six consultations regarding the Section 30 Project have been held. 

Three were held in 2006, including two in Rapid City on January 19 and February 28, and one in 

Spearfish on June 27-28. Two were held in 2009, including one at the Crazy Horse Memorial 

near Custer on April 21 and one in Spearfish on September 17. One was held in 2010 at the 

Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer on June 15. 
Appendix A Section 30 Project Public Scoping A-5 

In addition to the consultation meetings held in the Black Hills, Forest Service and Pete Lien and 

Sons representatives were formally invited to three reservations to meet with tribal council members 

during one of their regular sessions. The first of these meetings was at Eagle Butte, South Dakota 

with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council on March 8, 2006. The next was at Rosebud, South 

Dakota with the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council on September 13, 2006. The last was at Fort 

Washakie, Wyoming with the Northern Arapaho Tribal Council on September 20, 2006. Each of 

these meetings included presentations by the Forest Service and Pete Lien and Sons on the project 

proposal, a review of the historic properties, and possible mitigation efforts to protect the sites.