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Representative Kristi Noem and the U.S. Forest Service today announced an additional $1 million has been provided to the Black Hills National Forest to help combat the pine beetle epidemic.  Noem said the funds were made available to the Forest Service as a result of excess carryover funds from previous years and directed to the Black Hills National Forest Service. 

“This announcement is welcome news for folks in the Black Hills who are living daily through the slow-motion disaster that is the pine beetle epidemic,” Noem said.  “By providing these additional resources, the Forest Service has given a boost to the continued efforts to beat the beetles.”

Dennis Jaeger, Deputy Forest Supervisor for the Black Hills National Forest, said the funds will be used for on-the-ground pine beetle mitigation efforts in high priority areas in the Black Hills.

Noem has made the pine beetle epidemic a top priority in her first term in Congress.  Earlier this year, she organized a meeting with Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley and representatives of the Black Hills timber industry to provide an update on the Black Hills pine beetle problem and to press for additional assistance. 

During the meeting, Noem made the case that with South Dakota’s robust forest industry and infrastructure, the Black Hills could put additional resources to good use.  She also presented Chief Tidwell with dozens of letters from Black Hills area businesses and concerned citizens asking for help combating the beetles. At the meeting, Chief Tidwell said he would work on finding additional funding that could be directed toward the Black Hills National Forest.

“This is great news for the Black Hills National Forest.  We are already making plans to use these additional funds to do more this year to control the beetles,” said Craig Bobzien, Supervisor for the Black Hills National Forest.

“I appreciate the assistance of Chief Tidwell and the Forest Service and know these resources will be put to good use. I look forward to continuing to work together on ways we can get ahead of the pine beetle problem,” Noem said.

Last year, Noem, through her position on the Natural Resources Committee, hosted a field hearing near Hill City to help draw additional attention in Washington to the severity of the pine beetle epidemic in the Black Hills.  She also has continued to press Chairwoman Sutley through a grass-roots letter writing campaign asking her to grant alternative arrangements to expedite the lengthy environmental regulatory approval process.