Burn, Beetle, Burn!

January 18, 2015March 25, 2022 / Kari / Leave a comment

photo by Paul Horsted / DakotaPhoto.com

This weekend was the second annual Burning Beetle festival in Custer, South Dakota, a celebration in dishonor of the ravenous mountain pine beetle, complete with the burning of a 28-foot wooden beetle ala Burning Man.

But what is a mountain pine beetle, and why is it so destructive?

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Prescribed Burns & The Natural Forest Cycle

October 30, 2014March 25, 2022 / Kari / Leave a comment

Cold Brook Prescribed Burn – Wind Cave National Park

With firefighters performing several prescribed burns in the Black Hills area over the past week I was inspired to write a blog on the importance of fire in forest management and the natural forest cycle.

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