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Dear Activist,
Below is a report on the Forest Service Roadless Areas meeting held in Rapid
City, SD, on May 25, 2000, filed by the Black Hills Group's coordinator for
the Wild Forest campaign, Charmaine White Face. This report has been
forwarded to the print media in western South Dakota, including tribal
newspapers. Our Excom was so impressed by Charmaine's perspective that we
wanted to share it with a wider Club audience. Please feel free to share
this message with others within the Club, in the WOE, or in your newsletters.

brian brademeyer, Chair
Black Hills Group Sierra Club

PS. Charmaine is a full Lakota, and a former Treasurer of the Oglala Sioux
Tribe. The word "Hesapa" is a Lakota term for the Black Hills, literally
meaning "black mountains."


A LAKOTA PERSPECTIVE ON FOREST "ROADLESS AREAS", by Charmaine White Face

As I sat in the informational meeting being conducted by the US Forest
Service regarding their roadless area proposal, I was mesmerized by the map
of the Black Hills and the two tiny brown spots at the top of the map. Those
brown spots and a small nail head of brown off to the left side completely
surrounded by private land, represented the roadless areas in the Black
Hills. If the map was the size of a dinner table place mat, the brown spots
would have been the size of thumbtacks.

I finally had to ask what percentage of the roadless areas did these brown
spots represent. The Forest Service officials said that of the 1,200,000
acres (yes, 1.2 million acres) of federal land in the Black Hills, these
"inventoried roadless areas" cover 14,000 acres, or one percent, and they
are not completely roadless. Their definition of a road was it had to be 50
inches wide and maintained for motor vehicle travel. That didn't mean it had
to be graveled or blacktopped. The only difference under this new Forest
Service proposal is that no new roads could be built. Any other activities
could still be carried out.

I looked at the two tiny brown spots again. Their names were the Sand Creek
Area, and the Beaver Park Area. The tiny nail head off to the left was Inyan
Kara in Wyoming. The question and answers went on around me. I tried to
catch as much as I could but those brown spots kept grabbing my attention.

Were these the last wildlife areas in the Black Hills? I didn't even
consider the Black Elk Wilderness. Too many two-legged people walk through
their already. But I had heard rumors of a mining company wanting to expand
in the Sand Creek Area. The Forest Service official said that a company
could open a mine if they had an existing claim under the 1872 Mining Act. I
started to feel sick. The last tiny, remaining roadless areas in the Black
Hills, and yet someone wanted to dig for gold in there. It was like watching
the polluting of the last glass of pure water.

I thought of all the medicines that grow in the Black Hills. I thought of
the countless sacred places where my ancestors went to pray. I thought of
the spirits that live in Hesapa. To watch these last little tiny spots of
wilderness disappear right before my very eyes was too much. I left the
meeting and cried. Was this the way my great-great grandparents felt when
they saw the first gold miners and soldiers enter the sacred Black Hills?
Was this the way my grandmother felt when she would tell me over and over
again about the sacredness of Hesapa? What could I tell my grandchildren?

The meeting was to give information and answer questions. Another meeting is
scheduled for June 27, 2000, at the Ramkota Hotel in Rapid City, for people
to give comments to the Forest Service about their roadless area proposal. I
would be there. My one voice would probably not carry much weight, but at
least I could tell my grandchildren I tried.

The Forest Service is also accepting written comments. The address is: USDA
Forest Service-CAET, Attention: Roadless Area Conservation Proposed Rule, PO
Box 221090, Salt Lake City, UT 84122.

I hope that many Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people will come to give their
comments on June 27th. Maybe if enough of us speak up about the Treaties and
the sacredness of the Black Hills, maybe someone in a power position will
listen. I'm not too hopeful. They haven't listened yet. But I must keep
using my one voice to try to protect some small portion of the sacredness of
our Grandmother Earth. After all, She gives us so much. It's the
least I can do.

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