ID # (assigned by CSG): 12-MW-07-SD Please provide the following information, adding space as necessary: State: South Dakota Assign

Program Category (applicant): Natural Resources Program Name: Black Hills Forest Initiative (BHFI) Administering Agency: South Dakota Department of Agriculture (SDDA) Contact (Name and Title): Walt Bones, Department Secretary Address: 523 E. Capitol, Pierre, SD 57501 Telephone Number: 605-773-5425 E-mail Address: walt.bones@state.sd.us Web Address: http://sdda.sd.gov/ 1. How long has this program operated (month and year)? This program began with an announcement by Governor Dennis Daugaard on August 22, 2011. 2. Describe the program: Why was it created? A major mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic has been developing in the Black Hills and is still growing. To date, the epidemic has impacted 420,000 acres of forest land, almost one third of the entire area within the Black Hills; and, this expanding epidemic shows no signs of slowing. At this point, the entire Black Hills is threatened by these beetles and major impacts are imminent. Tourism will suffer as whole hillsides are covered with dead and dying pine trees. Wood industries, dependent on a steady supply of timber from our forest lands, are threatened with closure. Our forests are being devastated and the long-term health of our forest ecosystems is threatened. The massive number of dead trees will cause an increase in the risk of devastating wildfires that will threaten our communities and the forested watersheds that supply drinking water for our people.
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The Black Hills Forest Initiative was initiated by Governor Daugaard to mitigate damage from the continuing mountain pine beetle infestation. He made the following comment, Action is needed, and I pledge to invest $1 million each year for the next three years to help control the spread of this pest. Through the BHFI, the state of South Dakota hopes to prevent this pest from destroying our forests and communities by: a) increasing awareness of the problem at the state and national levels; b) engaging private individuals and businesses; c) coordinating with county, state, and federal partners; and, d) bringing additional resources to bear on this problem. The state of South Dakota is continuing to work with partners to more effectively compete for competitive grants provided by the United States Forest Service State & Private Forestry Programs. And, we have urged the Chief of the Forest Service to implement control measures immediately to address the growing mountain pine beetle problem and to do a better job of controlling beetle infestations on the borders of federal lands, where state and private landowners have been experiencing heavy attacks originating from those lands. The Governor Daugaard stated that, working together, we hope to correct these deficiencies. Under the BHFI, the Division of Resource Conservation and Forestry has developed a cost/share program to reimburse forest landowners for MPB control actions that they implement on their own forest lands. SDDA reimburses the landowner 50% of the actual cost of implementing approved practices with each practice capped at predetermined cost. Since the funding available through the state is not sufficient to cover all the needed control measures, priority areas have been established by SDDA in cooperation with the other federal, state, and local agencies with authority to address MPB control efforts. Aerial photos and geographic information systems (GIS) were used to map and establish the priority areas. In an effort to consolidate information concerning mountain pine beetles, the state has also developed a website dedicated to this topic. The website can be view at: www.beathebeetles.com. It serves a vital role in disseminating important information about the pine beetles and the actions people can take to limit their losses. It has been well received by the public. Why is it a new and creative approach or method? The Department of Agriculture in cooperation with other state agencies and Governor Daugaards Office have developed innovative techniques to control the spread of mountain pine beetle and ultimately reduce the impact of this epidemic on all lands even though we have concentrated our efforts on state and private forest lands. We tapped into scientific research on MPB and developed new and innovative approaches to control and manage the spread of these beetles. We tested our ideas within Custer State Park (CSP) and successfully proved the effectiveness of the techniques. We have since taken that knowledge and experience to implement control measures on private lands through the Black Hills Forest Initiative (BHFI) that have been proven effective. The BHFI initiative is a creative and new approach to addressing beetle epidemics in a positive way. Through this effort, the state of South Dakota hopes:
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a) to encourage public reaction to the beetle infestation and to make their concerns known in Washington (This, in itself, is not a creative approach but the degree of public concern and involvement indicates that we have been effective in garnering public support.); b) encourage private individuals and businesses to develop local initiatives and to fund those initiatives through local funding efforts wherever possible (This is demonstrated in county programs that are starting to develop independently of the state efforts.); and to, c) coordinate state suppression efforts with county, state, and federal agencies to deliver an effective program to private landowners (This is evidenced by the strong and growing participation in our landowner reimbursement program.). The Division of Resource Conservation and Forestry (RCF) has responded to the BHFI by developing a cost/share program to reimburse forest landowners that invest their own funds into the active control measures that they implement on their own forest lands. This is an innovative approach to help those individuals that willing to help themselves. The county governments have also seen the usefulness of this approach and are participating in the endeavor. Since the funding available through the state is not sufficient to cover all the needed control measures, priority areas were established by RCF in cooperation with the other federal, state, and local agencies with authority to address MPB control efforts. These priority areas are located where we anticipate the most damage to private forest lands. This is an innovative approach to limited funding. This project has made extensive use of aerial photos and geographic information systems (GIS) to map the beetle infestations so that timely control measures can be implemented. This can be considered a new and creative approach to this kind of suppression effort. These techniques have also been used to do predictive estimates on where beetle activity will be the heaviest in the next flight of beetles. The techniques are innovative and may make our suppression effort more effective. In an effort to consolidate information concerning mountain pine beetles, the state has developed a website dedicated to this topic. That site can be viewed at: www.beathebeetles.com.This site has served a vital role in disseminating important information and it has been well received by the public.

What are the specific activities and operations of the program in chronological order? The department has developed a suite of techniques that can be used to control MPB. These techniques include: a) Baiting - the use of pheromones to attract or repel MPB from certain trees; b) Cutting & Chunking - the cutting of infested trees and the bucking of the main tree bole into two-foot lengths to speed the decline of the cambium layer under the bark where the MPB eggs and larvae develop. This practice is effective in killing up to 80% of the beetles in each treated tree; c) Cutting & Peeling - the cutting of infested trees and the peeling of the main tree bole to expose the cambium area to the elements which effectively destroys the beetles; d) Cutting & Wrapping - the cutting of infested trees. The tree bole is then cut into 4-5 foot sections and piled so that they can be covered with a heavy clear plastic that will essentially raise the temperature under the plastic and speed they drying process of the sections and effectively destroying the beetles;
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e) Cutting & Chipping - the cutting of infested trees and then chipping the entire tree bole in order to destroy the beetles; and, f) Cutting & Removal - the cutting of infested trees and the removal of the logs from the site to be milled at local sawmills. This is the cheapest and most effective way to treat beetle infested trees. However, the local sawmills can only utilize a small portion of the beetle killed trees. Therefore, this option is not available to every landowner. Consequently, we normally recommend that landowner treat their infested trees by the Cut & Chunk method because it is the least expensive treatment option. The following activities will normally occur according to the following chronological timetable. a) MPB distribution patterns are analyzed and priority areas are determined (November February of each year). b) Initial Priority areas for the coming treatment season are selected (March of each year). c) Priority areas are presented to other agencies and final priority areas for state cost/share reimbursements are established by the state (by May 1st of each year). d) State BHFI cost/share program is announced for the current season and application filing by private forest landowners within priority areas begins (June August of each year). e) Private landowner applications must be filed (no later than September 30th of each year) f) Survey and marking of private forest lands begins on October 1 and completed December 30 of each year. The actual ending date may be extended if the number of applicants is larger than anticipated. g) The treatment of beetle infested trees commences as soon as an area has been marked and must be completed by a specific date established for each practice. The earliest date is March 1 for the Cut & Chunk technique. h) All other practices must be completed by no later than mid-June depending on the specific practice. i) Beetles begin to fly in mid-July and peak around the end of August but beetle flights continue into late September. Is it effective? Provide tangible results and examples. The treatment techniques we recommend to private landowners have been proven effective by our efforts on state owned lands such as Custer State Park. Since many of these techniques need to be used in ponderosa pine forests, we evaluate the effectiveness of each technique after it is applied on state lands. All of these techniques recommended and approved for cost/share under the BHFI have been proven effective. Dr. John Ball, Extension Specialist, with the South Dakota State University (SDSU) has implemented controlled scientifically sound evaluation processes for every technique we have implemented and recommend to private landowners.

3. Did this program originate in your state? If YES, please indicate the innovators name, present address, telephone number, and e-mail address. Yes, many of these techniques have been developed through research in other areas and on other trees and beetle species. However, they have never been used in the ponderosa pine forest of the Black Hills. Therefore, these techniques have originated in South Dakota and are applicable to our forest lands. The following people have been responsible for these innovative processes:

a) Nathan Sanderson, Policy Advisor, Office of the Governor, email: nathan.sanderson@state.sd.us, spearheaded the BHFI and helped developed the overall plan. b) Raymond A. Sowers, Director/State Forester, Division of Resource Conservation and Forestry, Department of Agriculture, email: ray.sowers@state.sd.us, who envisioned the impending epidemic and authorized the use of the most innovative and the least expensive ways to treat MPB (2004-2012) on state lands; c) Dr. John Ball, Extension Specialist/Forest Entomologist, SDSU, email: john.ball@sdstate.edu, as the resident expert and the person who that conducted the evaluation of scientific research and developed viable techniques for the Black Hills (2004-2012); d) Doug Hofer, Director, Division of Parks and Recreation, Department of Game Fish & Parks, email: doug.hofer@state.sd.us, who authorized the use of these control measures within Custer State Park to support Forest Health (2005-2012). 4. Are you aware of similar programs in other states? If YES, which ones and how does this program differ? Yes, there are similar control efforts underway in many western states hit hard by forest health issues. However, there are no other states that have utilized the same sort of innovative approaches to this problem. Wyoming and Nebraska are starting to use some of the techniques pioneered and proven by South Dakota. 5. What limitations or obstacles might other states expect to encounter when attempting to adopt this program? Other states may need to research techniques that will work for their particular problem and develop a response based on evaluation of test sites where the effectiveness can be measured. This may be difficult for some states to implement in a timely manner. CSG reserves the right to use or publish in other CSG products the information provided in this application. If your agency objects to this policy, please advise us in a separate attachment.

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Save in .doc or rtf. Return completed application AND video (if applicable) electronically to innovations@csg.org or mail to: CSG Innovations Awards The Council of State Governments 2760 Research Park Drive Lexington, KY 40511 Contact: Nancy J. Vickers, National Program Administrator Phone: 859.244.8105 Fax: 859.244.8001 Attn: Innovations Awards Program The Council of State Governments E-mail: nvickers@csg.org This application is also available at www.csg.org.