Under the general direction of the NPS, various relief agencies such as
the Emergency Relief Administration (ERA), the Resettlement
Administration, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked on development projects in the
area. Only a few scattered reports are now available on the work of
these agencies. About 150 persons were employed at the area in January
1937 on such projects as resurfacing, backsloping, ditching, and grading
roads.[147] This included major reconstruction of the Sheep Mountain
Canyon road, completed the same year.[148]
One project of interest completed June 30, 1940 by ERA labor, under the
Public Roads Administration, was the obliteration of two tunnels along
the Pinnacles-Cedar Pass road. They were constructed during the first
half of the 1930’s (see Figure 19) when the road was built by the State
of South Dakota; the road was completed in 1935. The tunnels proved to
be impractical because of inadequate width and maintenance
problems.[149]
In July 1940 the ERA project in the area was discontinued. Among the
types of work accomplished since July 1, 1938, when the project was
initiated, were the construction of five project headquarters buildings,
prospecting for water on the national monument, the development of a
well near the site of the old Pinnacles Checking Station, and ten road
jobs which included road construction, widening, graveling, building
culverts, and banksloping. The construction of parking overlooks, and
the obliteration of buildings and clearing of 16 farmstead tracts, also
took place during that time.[150]
During the 12 months between July 1939 and July 1940, the ERA project
employed an average of 150 relief workers.[151]
Since the national monument is located a relatively short distance from
Wind Cave National Park, the older area co-ordinated the business of
Badlands during its early years. On August 11, 1939, Chief Ranger Howard
B. Stricklin of Wind Cave became acting custodian of the newly
designated area and was later placed in charge of the local ERA and CCC
projects.[152] Although the ERA project was terminated in July 1940, the
CCC work continued until June 1942.[153]
When Stricklin arrived to take charge, there were no living quarters of
any kind in the area. He lived at the CCC camp at Quinn Table while his
family remained at Wind Cave. Temporary offices were established in Wall
pending a decision regarding the location of permanent
headquarters.[154]
Considerable thought was given to the selection of a headquarters site.
For a time the Pinnacles area was considered.[155] However, in late 1939
it was finally decided to locate the center of operations at Cedar
Pass.[156] This decision was due, in part, to the offer by Mr. Ben H.
Millard, owner of Cedar Pass Lodge,
to donate approximately 28 acres of strategically located land in the
Cedar Pass area to the Service to be used as a headquarters area.[157]
[Illustration: Figure 20 CEDAR PASS LODGE,
early 1930’s
The lodge was begun in 1928 at about the same time the large dance
pavillion building in the background was constructed. People from as
distant as Rapid City came here to dance to the music of Lawrence
Welk and other name bands. More cabins for the lodge were built from
its lumber when the pavillion was removed in about 1934.[159]]
The Department of the Interior accepted Millard’s donation in May
1941.[158]
The decision to develop the Cedar Pass area for headquarters greatly
altered development plans. The CCC enrollees numbering 207 in February
1940 were encamped at Quinn Table some 35 miles west of Cedar Pass.
Since much of the development was taking place at Cedar Pass, it was
necessary to drive them between these two points each day.[160]
One of the great handicaps of Cedar Pass as a headquarters area was the
lack of water. To develop a satisfactory supply, the NPS found it
necessary to go to the White River, three miles south. One of the major
projects undertaken soon after selecting the headquarters site was to
dig a trench and lay pipe to the river. Since this stream is
intermittent above ground, but has a dependable subsurface flow, water
was collected in perforated pipes laid on hard clay and shale about
eight feet below the river bed. The pipe brought water to a sump on the
river bank where it was pumped to a 100,000-gallon storage tank above
the headquarters area.[161] Work was begun on this reservoir in April
1940 and completed by the CCC in September 1941. At the same time the
CCC also erected a checking station at Pinnacles which Stricklin and his
family occupied from November 15, 1940, until about May 15, 1943.[162]
Handicapped by the location of the original CCC camp at Quinn Table, a
new camp was authorized at Cedar Pass and work on it began in June 1941.
Five months later the new camp was occupied.[164]
At that time the only visitor-contact point in the Cedar Pass area was
at Cedar Pass Lodge. During the summer season Mr. Millard lectured
nightly to lodge guests on the geologic history of the Badlands, thereby
initiating interpretive programs. He also showed movies of the Badlands
and other scenic areas. A temporary park ranger, who checked travel in
the Cedar Pass area during the day, took part in the evening
programs.[165]
[Illustration: Figure 21 PINNACLES RANGER
STATION AND CHECKING STATION, 1941
Completed in 1941, the ranger station also served as quarters until
January 1965 when the new Pinnacles ranger station-residence was
completed. The checking station was removed about 1958 to make way
for road improvement, and the old ranger station was razed in April
1967.[163]]
The problem of stock grazing in the national monument grew increasingly
worse during the 1940’s. The acting custodian complained early in 1940:
Until the boundary is fenced and we are in a better position to know
what is private and what is monument land, there appears to be very
little that can be done to prevent this.[166]
In December 1941 he wrote in a similar vein:
During past winters it has been the practice of local stockmen to
allow herds of horses and cattle to drift into the monument area to
graze unrestrictedly over public as well as private lands and along
the monument highways. There is such a large amount of private and
county-owned land within the monument boundaries (31,000 acres out of
a total of 150,000) that it is difficult to restrain stock from
grazing on National Park Service land as well as on the land that is
owned or leased by private individuals.[167]
It soon became obvious that Badlands National Monument would be a
popular attraction because of its location near U.S. Highways 14 and 16,
both well-known national highways going through the Black Hills. In 1941
there were 70.02 miles of road in the national monument. Of this, 61.52
miles were constructed by the state and 8.5 miles by the federal
government; 29.87 miles were graveled and 40.15 were dirt roads.[168]
Although the roads through the area were only partially developed,
thousands of travelers turned off the through highways to view the
scenic Badlands.
Stricklin reported in September 1941:
More than a quarter of a million visitors had passed through Badlands
National Monument by the close of the travel season on September 30,
representing an increase of approximately 30 percent over the previous
year, for the period during which an actual count was made.[169]
The entrance of the United States into World War II in December 1941 had
a great impact on the area and its operations. Since many of the CCC
enrollees would be absorbed into the armed forces, the project work soon
came to an end. The acting custodian reported in the spring of 1942, “On
March 25, after two years and five months of productive work in Badlands
National Monument, CCC Camp Badlands, NP-3 [located at Cedar Pass], was
abandoned.”[170] Work was continued on several projects undertaken at
Camp Badlands by a CCC side camp with the view toward completing the
projects or leaving them “in such condition that the facilities involved
may be used, and the materials, all of which have been on hand for some
time, may be protected against deterioration and loss.”[171] However,
the side camp was also closed in the following June, leaving practically
all of the construction projects in various states of completion.[172]
In December 1942 most of the CCC buildings at Cedar Pass were dismantled
and removed by the armed services.[173]
Another result of the nation’s entrance into the war was a sharp drop in
visitors to the Badlands. Stricklin wrote in June 1942 that “Most of
these visitors appeared to be genuine vacationists ... [who] had a
vacation coming, and were trying to get it in before gas rationing
became nation-wide.”[174] He estimated that travel in March 1943 was 87
percent under that for March 1942, and that “All foreign [out-of-state]
visitor cars stopping for information were headed for defense jobs, or
were military personnel, changing their headquarters from one part of
the country to another.”[175] The effect of the war on travel to the
national monument is reflected in the travel figures of the area for the
years from 1941 to 1945. (See Appendix A.)
Efforts at the national monument during the war were devoted largely to
preventive maintenance. Changing his headquarters from Pinnacles to
Cedar Pass in June 1943, Stricklin was able to give closer attention to
the headquarters area.[176] Such routine tasks as filling washouts,
cleaning ditches, reclaiming gravel, cutting roadside weeds, repairing
guard rails, cleaning up debris, and temporary patching of roads
occupied most of the staff’s time. Other tasks, such as repairing water
lines, painting signs, keeping the buildings in repair, and servicing
and repairing the area equipment also required much attention.[177] The
cottage that the custodian and his family rented from Millard at Cedar
Pass was destroyed by fire on November 27, 1943.[178]
[Illustration: Figure 22 CEDAR PASS, June 1950
The buildings of Cedar Pass Lodge can be seen behind the white frame
structure, which served as a visitor center and headquarters until
1959. Remnants of two spires on Vampire Peak remain on the left. It
was observed on November 22, 1950, that one of the two spires of
this famous landmark had fallen, apparently during a thunder
storm.[189]]
During the ten years following the end of World War II, there was slow
progress in the area’s development. Work on the custodian’s residence at
Cedar Pass, begun in 1941, was completed in 1946.[179] Early in 1953 two
additional houses, both prefabricated, were completed.[180] In January
1948 commercial power was brought to Cedar Pass and Interior with the
completion of a single-phase power line by the Rural Electrification
Administration.[181] The Northwestern Bell Telephone Company extended
telephone service to the national monument headquarters in September
1952.[182] (This service was officially taken over by the Golden West
Telephone Cooperative, Inc., in October 1960.)[183]
During the travel seasons of 1946 and 1947 there was much adverse
criticism of the national monument roads. The maintenance equipment was
in poor condition and usually undergoing repairs when most needed.[184]
In the summer of 1948 about 4 miles of road was black-topped between the
Cedar Pass junction and Norbeck Pass; this represented the first paving
of U.S. Route 16A in the national monument.[185] The present northeast
entrance road, about 3½ miles long, was completed in October 1951. It
opened up a new area of the Badlands known as the Window Section.[186]
This road was made possible by the donation in 1946 of a 160-acre,
strategically located land parcel by Mr. Ben Millard who had purchased
it from Jackson County in March 1941 for this purpose.[187]
During the late 1940’s and early 1950’s buildings constructed as
temporary structures in the ERA and CCC period were remodeled and
continued in use for headquarters and utility purposes.[188]
Both the grazing and the land ownership problems at the national
monument were compounded by the war. With increased rainfall in the
region during the decade of the 1940’s and the rising price of beef, the
situation of the ranchers greatly improved. Under a plan suggested by
Congressman Case in January 1943 to help in the “Beef for Victory
Program,” the Service authorized for the first time in April the
issuance of grazing permits on federally owned grasslands within the
national monument. Under this program, the lands were divided into seven
grazing units. An orderly grazing plan was established with the
cooperation of the Soil Conservation Service.[190] Stricklin was able to
identify and locate all cattle and sheep outfits that claimed to be
using the national monument lands in conjunction with their SCS
allotments.[191] Following the war authorized grazing remained one of
the area’s major management problems for over a decade.
Stricklin wrote about an interesting sidelight of the grazing problem:
The roundup and disposal of several hundred head of unclaimed and
so-called wild horses in the Sage Creek basin was a source of much
concern on the part of both ranchers and the Custodian, the ranchers
claiming the wild stallions were enticing away their mares. The
Custodian’s concern was partly because of the damage these herds were
doing to the range, but largely because it was practically the only
program of any kind on which the National Park Service and the
ranchers could even remotely agree. Several roundups were collaborated
in, during which the herds were drastically reduced. Airplanes were
used on at least one of the roundups to flush horses out of the
canyons and keep them from breaking back on their route to Scenic and
the loading chutes. Jack and Mamie Close, ranchers on Quinn Table,
were the leaders among the ranchers in this work.[192]
Feral horses were eventually eliminated through roundups and returned to
their owners. The last roundup took place in the national monument in
1963.[193]
With the improvement of their lot, many ranchers who had been destitute
only a few years earlier were in a position to purchase county lands
within the national monument boundary. The custodian reported in April
1943 that practically all such land within the boundary was leased for
grazing and that much of it was recently bought by sheep and cattle
ranchers.[194] In 1946 Stricklin reported a considerable change in land
ownership where much of the land formerly controlled by Pennington
County had passed into private ownership.[195] Later the same year
Jackson County auctioned all of its 3,000 acres of land within the
boundary to private individuals. Practically all of the 14,000 acres
which was owned by the two counties two years earlier had passed into
private ownership.[196]
The location of the boundary had been a subject of discussion since the
national monument was established in 1939. The area contained a large
acreage of grassland which the Soil Conservation Service believed should
be released for grazing purposes. There was also overlapping
jurisdiction between the two federal agencies.[197]
After several years of study, the NPS and the SCS arrived at an
understanding on the national monument boundary and mutual land
problems. In 1946 the two agencies signed an agreement known as
Recommended Program of Procedure for boundary adjustment of Badlands
National Monument. The NPS agreed:
(1) to transfer to the Soil Conservation Service NPS lands outside the
existing national monument boundary in order to compensate for
1,220 acres the SCS had turned over for inclusion in the national
monument prior to its establishment in 1939;
(2) to transfer to the SCS equivalent lands (computed on a
livestock-carrying-capacity basis) for lands that were to be
acquired from the SCS by the NPS as the result of revised boundary
studies;
(3) to transfer to the SCS federal lands which the NPS planned to
eliminate from the national monument to use in exchange for
non-federal lands remaining in the national monument after the
boundary changes were made.[198]
The plan made it possible to transfer, without legislation, 3,678.19
acres of NPS lands lying outside the park boundary to the SCS. This was
done by order of the Secretary of the Interior in July 1949.[199] These
lands were acquired under the Resettlement Administration program and,
in 1936 were transferred to the NPS. When Badlands National Monument was
established in 1939, these lands were not within the boundary.[200]
In order to carry out the main objectives of the plan, Congressional
action was necessary. In 1950 bills (H.R. 7342 and S. 3081) were
introduced in the 81st Congress by Representative Case and Senator
Chandler Gurney to implement the proposed land exchange. H.R. 7342 was
passed by the House without amendment, but later the bill died in the
Senate. The senate bill (S. 3081) was not considered.
In 1951 Senator Francis H. Case, who had just been elected to that
office, and Congressman E.Y. Berry introduced identical bills (S. 896
and HR. 3540) in the 82nd Congress. These were similar to the ones
proposed a year earlier. Berry’s bill passed the House on July 2, 1951,
without amendment. The House Act was referred to the Senate Committee on
Interior and Insular Affairs, which recommended that section five of
H.R. 3540 be dropped. This section would have provided authority to
include 4,000 acres of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the Sheep
Mountain area provided certain conditions were met. The committee
believed “that a satisfactory solution should be worked out with the
Tribal Council of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of Indians, and any others
interested, before legislation with regard to these lands is
enacted.”[201] The bill in its amended form, including another minor
change recommended by the committee, passed the Senate on January 24,
1952.[202]
[Illustration: Figure 23 AREA CHANGES IN
BADLANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT[203]]
Area authorized in 1929 (dashed line) 50,830.40 acres
Area upon establishment in 1939 154,119.46 acres
Area after changes of 1952 122,642.52 acres
Area after changes of 1957 (heavy line) 111,529.82 acres
Acreage figures are latest available and may be different from figures
which were current during each of the four times the park boundary has
been redesignated. Because of these acreage revisions, additions to and
deletions from the park do not total correctly.
Badlands National Monument
South Dakota
One section (1 mile square—640 acres)
Eliminated in 1952 31,442.52 acres
Added in 1952 4,449.29 acres
Eliminated in 1957 11,234.09 acres
Added in 1957 241.39 acres
Shortly afterwards on February 8, telegrams were sent to Congressmen
Berry, Senator Case, and Senator Karl Mundt by the executive committee
of the tribal council of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The messages urged the
congressmen to do their best to get Section 5 restored so it would be
possible for the tribe to negotiate with the federal government for
exchange of the land in the Sheep Mountain area for other lands.[204]
The House, however, did not heed this resolution but voted instead to
concur with the Senate’s amended version. The bill became Public Law 328
after being signed by President Harry S Truman on May 7, 1952.[205]
Under this law, the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to adjust
and redefine at his discretion the exterior boundary of the national
monument by appropriate reductions or additions. The law specified,
among other things, that the adjusted area could not exceed the existing
154,119 acres.[206] (An official figure of 150,103.41 acres was used as
the total acreage of the area at the time it was proclaimed as a
national monument in 1939. A revised figure, listing 154,119.46 acres
for the same area, was used as the total acreage from about 1943 until
October 1952.[207])
Immediately after the bill became law, proposed boundary changes
received considerable attention. Some believed that the area of the
national monument should be reduced. A strong supporter of this view was
the South Dakota Stock Growers Association. It was the organization’s
belief that the size could be reduced by about one-half without
destroying any of its scenic value. They estimated that 3,000 head of
cattle would be without grass if the NPS carried through its plan to
fence the area and eliminate grazing from the national monument. One of
the biggest problems was the large acreage of private lands located
within its boundary. Many ranchers believed that these lands ought to be
eliminated “from the Badlands National Monument wherever a reasonable
boundary adjustment can be made.”[208] Others contended “that all of the
grassland west of Pinnacles [Sage Creek Basin] could be removed from the
Park and that such removal would in no way destroy the attraction to the
tourist.”[209]
A 1953 memorandum from the Regional Director to NPS Director Conrad L.
Wirth explained how Sage Creek Basin had become largely
government-owned:
Sage Creek Basin was a submarginal waste in the 1930’s due to
prolonged and severe drought conditions and considerable acreages of
private lands were acquired by the Resettlement Administration in
connection with its submarginal land program.... Other private parcels
became tax delinquent and were ultimately sold to private owners by
Pennington County in the 1940’s. Because of favorable climatic
conditions of the past several years, the basin has recovered from its
condition of the 1930’s; it now contains a considerable acreage of
good grasslands.... We venture the opinion that had vegetative
conditions of the basin in the 1930’s resembled those of today, a
submarginal land program would not have been undertaken so far as the
basin is concerned.[210]
Owing to the great interest generated by the proposed boundary changes,
the NPS issued a statement in July 1952 giving reasons why it would not
be “advisable to eliminate from the Monument the grasslands west of the
Pinnacles, as suggested by the South Dakota Stock Growers
Association.”[211] It said in part that
These flatter lands with their cover of native grasses and
wildflowers, typical of the surrounding prairie country, are valuable
for park and wildlife purposes. The preservation of this relatively
small exhibit of native grass is an important responsibility in
itself, since no comparable section of the Great Plains has been set
apart to be preserved in its natural condition.[212]
The statement also indicated that about 31,700 acres of other lands were
to be eliminated from the national monument, including more than 12,000
acres of privately owned lands. It indicated that the Soil Conservation
Service agreed to these revisions and that they were “the same as those
which the Congress considered when it authorized boundary revisions by
enacting Public Law 328.”[213]
On October 3, 1952, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Joel D. Wolfsohn
issued an order revising the boundary of the national monument. The
order showed that 30,802.52 acres, more or less, were “hereby
transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Department of
Agriculture for use, administration, and disposition in accordance with
the provisions of Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act....”
This reduced the size of Badlands National Monument, according to the
order, to 121,883.12 acres.[214]
The Order was performed to provide lands for the Soil Conservation
Service to enable those persons having private land in the monument to
trade for Soil Conservation Service lands outside the monument, and to
make a few administrative adjustments in the monument boundary.[215]
However, discrepancies in the land records led the NPS to investigate
the status of lands within the former boundary.[216] By late 1953 it was
found that 31,442.52 acres were eliminated from the national monument by
the October 3 order instead of 30,802.52 acres. Of these 12,916.32 acres
were private lands; the remaining 18,526.20 acres were transferred to
the Soil Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture.[217]
There were also lands totaling about 4,449 acres added to the national
monument by the October 3 order; these lands included
“2,581.88 acres of public domain, 336.88 acres of purchased land,
981.79 acres of Soil Conservation Service land and 548.56 acres of
private land.... The net result of the boundary adjustments was a loss
of 26,993.23 acres of land in Badlands National Monument.”[218]
Even before the October 3 order was enacted there was already talk about
further reduction of the area boundary. In a memorandum dated December
5, 1952, Director Wirth wrote to the Regional Director in charge of
Badlands National Monument:
[Illustration: Figure 24 A PORTION OF SAGE
CREEK BASIN
In 1953 over 25,000 acres were recommended by the NPS for deletion
from this section of the national monument.[219] Later, studies
revealed that the area should be retained. Today it is home for
bison, deer, pronghorn, prairie dogs, and other animals. Sage Creek
Primitive Campground is located in its northwest section.]
The basis for a final solution [of the boundary problem at Badlands
National Monument] lies in a reassessment and restatement of Monument
objectives and significance. If it is found, as appears likely, that
our chief concern and purpose should be with the badlands formations,
then the boundaries should be drawn accordingly, with due regard for
badlands protection, interpretation and attendant development needs.
If we are to retain some or all of the grasslands, we must have strong
and valid justification for doing so and be prepared to disclose and
defend what specific Monument purposes and uses they are to
serve.[220]
In order to determine if the grasslands west of Pinnacles should be
kept, the NPS contracted with a number of prominent scientists to make
studies of the area in 1953. Dr. Theodore E. White, a paleontologist
with the Smithsonian Institution, determined in June 1953 whether or not
potentially fossiliferous areas would be excluded by proposed boundary
readjustments.[221] Late that summer archeological investigations were
undertaken by Archeologist Paul L. Beaubien of the NPS Regional Office
in Omaha, Nebraska. He recorded some 30 prehistoric Indian sites and one
historic Indian site believed to have been used by Chief Big Foot’s band
a few days before the infamous battle at Wounded Knee in December
1890.[222]
Professor F.W. Albertson of Fort Hays Kansas State College submitted a
Report of Study of Grassland Areas of Badlands National Monument in
September. In brief he said, “it seems to me that the Park Service has
an extremely interesting area, which should be preserved for all
interested public through the years to come.”[223]
Meanwhile, support grew for retention of the boundaries as spelled out
by the October 3, 1952, secretarial order. The Rapid City Chapter of the
Izaak Walton League of America, the South Dakota State Highway
Commission, the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, the
Black Hills and Badlands Association, and prominent local persons,
including Sid Soma, Dr. G.W. Mills, Ted Hustead, and Leonel Jensen, all
from the town of Wall, were but a few of the many who advocated
retention of the present boundary.[224]
Although the South Dakota Stock Growers Association and some local
ranching interests continued to advocate “the transfer of administration
of all grazing lands within the monument not needed for road and
development purposes,” it became evident to these people that opposition
was building up against further acreage reduction in the park.[225]
In April 1954 the NPS recommended no boundary changes until the problem
was explored further. Director Wirth said:
it seems apparent that there is a very considerable number of people
... which strongly support the retention of the Badlands National
Monument not only as a striking example of geological formations, with
areas of paleontological interest, but also for preservation of a
segment of the plains grassland and native wildlife as added
attractions. On the other hand, there is also a difficult problem of
inholdings and grazing complications, with strong sentiment from the
livestock owners for a reduction of the Monument.[226]
He recommended, among other things, that exchanges of private land
inside the boundary for federal lands outside be pushed vigorously, and
that Dr. Adolph Murie, NPS Biologist, should study the wildlife
possibilities of the national monument.[227]
In his report Dr. Murie said:
Badlands National Monument has national significance, first of all
because it is a sample of the Badlands. The values of this monument
are of outstanding significance in the fields of geology,
paleontology, archeology, and biology. The eroded terrain has scenic
value for many, and in Sage Creek Basin and in the section north of
Cedar Pass one finds the atmosphere of the early scene, when this
country was far beyond the frontier....
In Sage Creek Basin we have an opportunity to preserve the prairie
dog-blackfooted ferret community, with many other associated species
of the region.... Likewise the rare kit fox may possibly be preserved
in the basin. The value of Sage Creek Basin for preserving these rare
native species is contingent on size and its present size is none too
large....
Concerning boundaries in general over the monument it appears that any
eliminations would be harmful to public values. Only in minor details,
in connection with land adjustments, should any territory be
sacrificed. Sage Creek Basin, especially, should not be
reduced....[228]
Also during the summer of 1954, the NPS requested Dr. James D. Bump,
Director of Museum of Geology of the South Dakota School of Mines and
Technology at Rapid City, to make a geological and paleontological
appraisal of Badlands National Monument. Quotations from his report
point out his strong feelings for the area:
The Big Badlands of South Dakota, from a paleontological standpoint,
probably constitutes the richest Oligocene region in the world....
[The quantity of] paleontological materials given up to man over the
past 100 years is of astounding proportions. This prehistorical
treasure represents more than 250 species of the vertebrate life of
thirty million years ago....
The Badlands National Monument is a part of the greatest
badland-eroded section in North America.... I can think of no other
geographic area of like-size that has the unusual natural beauty, the
undisturbed plant and animal life and the wealth of scientific
information to offer the public....[229]
He ended his report by making a number of recommendations, some of which
follow:
The present boundaries must remain intact. Removal of any lands,
except perhaps some thin scattered fringes, would seriously cripple
future development and greatly reduce the attractiveness of the
Monument....
Under no circumstances should any part of the Sage Creek Basin be
withdrawn. Its scientific and natural value cannot be overestimated
and it is my opinion that this section will in the future become one
of the most interesting and educational of the entire Monument.[230]
As a result of Dr. Murie’s wildlife study and Dr. Bump’s geological and
paleontological appraisal, the Service began formulating definite ideas
in April 1955 concerning further revision of the boundary. An
elimination of 11,124 acres including 4,234 acres of privately owned
lands was proposed. This is only about one-third of the 32,000 acres
which was being widely talked about as a possible reduction in size
during 1953. The larger reduction would have included much of the
grasslands west of Pinnacles. Addition of 4,460 acres, including 3,954
acres of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation lands and 246 acres of Department
of the Army lands located on the Indian reservation, was also proposed.
Net reduction in area would be about 6,664 acres.[231]
Since the mid-1930’s there have been various suggestions that a road be
constructed to connect Sage Creek Basin with the Sheep Mountain
locality. Although it was not in the master plan for the national
monument in the 1950’s, planning for the ultimate boundary was done so
that the road could be built if ultimately needed.[232] However, Dr.
Murie recommended against the road proposal in his report.[233]
[Illustration: Figure 25 BADLANDS NATIONAL
MONUMENT VISITOR CENTER
Dedicated in 1959, the building houses the national monument’s
administrative offices, exhibits on the Badlands, and a small
theater in which there are narrated slide programs on the highlights
of the Badlands. The facility is open all year.]
On April 12, 1956, an open meeting was held in Wall, South Dakota, to
discuss proposed boundary changes with ranchers, stockmen, and local
businessmen. No opposition to the proposals was voiced. The meeting also
provided an opportunity for discussion of development plans, including
fencing and grazing matters.[234]
On March 22, 1957, Acting Secretary of the Interior Hatfield Chilson
issued an order eliminating 11,234.09 acres from the national monument,
of which about 4,000 acres were private land. The total area of Badlands
National Monument was fixed at 111,529.82 acres. This also included an
addition of 240 acres of federal land which, among other things,
increased the utility area at headquarters and provided a much needed
disposal area. An additional 1.39 acres of federal land, located along
the White River three miles south of headquarters, were added, since
water storage tanks and a water pump, all part of the area’s water
system, are located there. More than 7,000 acres of the 11,234.09-acre
reduction were transferred to the Department of Agriculture, under
provisions of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, and became available
for exchange for private land remaining inside the new boundary. As a
result of the secretarial order, there was a net reduction of 10,992.70
acres in the size of the national monument. The new boundary included
98,486.39 acres in federal ownership and 13,043.43 acres of non-federal
land.[235] Since then, the Service has acquired title to 6,356.71 acres
of the non-federal land within the boundary. As of December 1967 there
were 104,843.10 acres of federal land and 6,686.72 acres of non-federal
land within the boundary of Badlands National Monument.[236]
On January 2, 1954, the Secretary of Agriculture transferred the Land
Utilization Program, including lands in the vicinity of the national
monument, from the Soil Conservation Service to the U.S. Forest
Service.[237] This, in part, prompted a Program of Procedure for Land
Exchanges, a revision of the Recommended Program of Procedure, to be
drafted. The new agreement was signed in September 1954 by officials of
both services. It states in part that all future land exchanges are to
be handled by the Forest Service. This includes exchanges with private
parties who own land inside the national monument boundary. One
objective of such land exchanges is to eliminate all non-federal lands
from within Badlands National Monument.[238] Since 1954 elimination of
such lands has come about largely through exchanges, although in a few
instances actual purchases were made.
[Illustration: Figure 26 RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY
AT BADLANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT DEDICATION, SEPTEMBER 16, 1959
Left to Right: NPS Regional Director Howard Baker, Region Two (now
Midwest Region); Conrad Wirth, NPS Director; Fred Seaton, Secretary
of the Interior; Congressman E.Y. Berry; Mrs. George H. Sholly,
widow of Badlands National Monument Superintendent; Mrs. Ralph
Herseth; and Governor Ralph Herseth of South Dakota.]
Concurrently with boundary adjustments, the NPS gave considerable
thought to a grazing management plan for the area whereby grazing might
be eliminated without serious hardship to the local ranchers. As a
result the Service presented a plan in May 1948 to grazing permittees
outlining a schedule for the gradual termination of grazing on federally
owned national monument lands by December 31, 1961.[239]