Black Hills

The 30th annual Black Hills Pow Wow is this weekend at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City. 

While the event is open to all, many non-natives may lack a basic understanding of what happens at a pow wow. A Wacipi 101 course was given Tuesday night to educate those interested in learning more. 

Wacipi means “to dance.” And there will be plenty of dancing at the Black Hills National Pow Wow this weekend.

The Black Hills National Forest has a new supervisor.  

Mark Van Every oversees everything on Forest Service land in the Black Hills from the effort to fight forest fires and pine beetles to efforts to ensure public access and protect public resources.

Van Every took the helm in the new position this summer.    He’s now had some time to settle into the job, and he sat down in the Rapid City studio with SDPB’s Charles Michael Ray.  Click play below to hear the interview.

U.S. Forest Service officials want public input on a plan to make the Black Hills more resilient in the future.   

The goal of the Black Hills Resilient Landscapes Project is to make the forest ready for a changing climate.  That includes challenges like the pine beetle epidemic and a potential for increased forest fires.

Forest service officials say much of the Black Hills has moved away from the desired conditions described in a Management Plan created 20 years ago.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of National Parks. We’re kicking off a series of segments on National Parks with the story of a single Badlands cedar tree, loved by one family for generations.

This cedar sits on a point surrounded by steep cliffs in the Badlands National Park.    It resembles a Japanese bonsai. It’s gnarled, twisted, and bent by the relentless wind.

Regional economic developers at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally want more companies to call the Black Hills their home. They view the rally as a chance to network with businesses while promoting the region.

A couple of conservation groups are putting together a program to preserve Black Hills trails. The proposed program would educate visitors on ethical trail use.

South Dakota Magazine Managing Editor John Andrews previews the July/August issue - everything from a Native American christening ceremony to the Black Hills.

Two business leaders in Rapid City spoke at the Black Hills Forum and Press Club on Friday to discuss the ups and downs of South Dakota’s economy, including what lies ahead.

Ben Snow is with Rushmore Region, the group promotes economic development. He says South Dakota is protected from recessions more so than other places in the U.S.

Historian Bill Swanson discusses the national interests that made the Gold Rush into the Black Hills a necessity. We’ll talk about the economic, political, and military factors that guaranteed the Black Hills would be “invaded.”

Bill Swanson teaches at Lemmon High School. He has been teaching about Black Hills ghost towns through the Black Hills Learning Center since 1999. His lecture on the Gold Rush into the Black Hills is part of Picnic on the Lawn at the Historic Adams House in Deadwood, Friday, June 24 at noon.

Lori Walsh speaks with SDPB’s Brian Gevik. He’ll discuss the upcoming Images of the Past documentary “Trails, Rails, and Roads of the Black Hills.” The new original documentary airs tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. CT, 7:00 p.m. MT.

This week’s Images of the Past takes powers us through the northern Black Hills on the railroads of the late 1800s. Wayne Pananen joins us to discuss the dangers and mystique of rail travel through the South Dakota.

Artist Deborah Mitchell’s exhibition “Refuge” opens this weekend at the Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City. It’s a meditation on refuge on a global and personal scale. Mitchell recently received a South Dakota Arts Council Artist’s Fellowship. She immersed herself in the beauty of the Black Hills, walking and drawing every day. She sits down with Dakota Midday host Lori Walsh to talk about the refuge of work, the refuge of art, and the refuge of contemplation. 

http://deborahmitchellartist.com/home.html

Black Hills State University's Dr. David Wolff recently retired in order to spend  more time with his research. Today he joins Dakota Midday to talk about violence and death on the Black Hills mining frontier. From stagecoach robberies to vigilante justice, Wolff separates the pulp fiction from the fact as he talks with Dakota Midday host Lori Walsh.

Prickly rodents are stealing the spotlight at Devils Tower National Monument as researchers and citizens look into the often forgotten lives of porcupines. There are about 12 porcupines who make their home at the Tower, and as you can imagine attaching a radio tracking device to one involves some effort.

The famed J.B. Haggin locomotive is on permanent display at the Adams Museum in Deadwood. Archivist Jessica Michak explains the story of the the museum's most photographed artifact. From the day an engineer drove it into the museum to what it's like to dust a five ton locomotive, Images of the Past shines a light on a vibrant time in Black Hills history.

The summer of 1927 brought President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge to the Black Hills of South Dakota for a stay that extended throughout the summer.

From Grace Coolidge's walk in the woods that led her astray to President Coolidge's announcement that he would not seek reelection, Gary Enright, Director of the 1881 Courthouse Museum, details the highlights of the "Summer White House" in South Dakota.

A new installment in a downtown Rapid City park aims to recognize the history of Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people in this region and highlight contributions of 20th century Native Americans.

 The First Nations Sculpture Garden has broken ground in Halley Park in the center of Rapid City and organizers are now working toward their fundraising goal in order to finish the project.

The caves of the Black Hills are among the longest in the world, and new research shows they may also contain some of the purest water on earth.

The lakes in Wind Cave and the newly discovered bodies of water in Jewel Cave are a treasure trove for microbiologists who study the rare bacteria that have evolved in the untouched and dark underground water of the Madison Aquifer.

We’re continuing a series of interviews on energy and the environment with a conversation with Vance Crocker Vice President of Operations for Black Hills Power.

Last week we heard from Dr. Bull Bennett  an author of the Third National Climate Assessment on the necessity to deal with global warming.