Environment

A portion of the Pactola Reservoir in the Black Hills. (Seth Tupper/SD Searchlight)

Federal agencies seek to protect Pactola Reservoir and Rapid Creek from mining

BY: - March 17, 2023

Two federal agencies have announced a proposal to protect 32 square miles of the Black Hills National Forest from mining. The Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service made the announcement in a Friday news release. The proposal covers the Pactola Reservoir and Rapid Creek Watershed, which are popular recreation destinations that also serve […]

Cold Springs Creek in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where parcels of private land are being added to the Black Hills National Forest. (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)

Black Hills National Forest adds 239 acres through deal with elk group and landowners

BY: - March 16, 2023

The Black Hills National Forest is growing by about one-third of a square mile. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation acquired 239 acres of land from two landowners for a total of $1.1 million and conveyed it to the national forest. The land is high in the remote western area of the forest in South Dakota, […]

Contractors conduct groundwater sampling in March 2022 as part of an effort to provide alternative water supplies for areas affected by PFAS contamination near Ellsworth Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center)

Pentagon to halt use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS as cleanup costs mount

BY: and - March 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — Battered by years of criticism from U.S. lawmakers and environmental advocates, the Department of Defense will stop purchasing PFAS-containing firefighting foam later this year and phase it out entirely in 2024.  The replacement for Aqueous Film Forming Foam has yet to be determined, and advocates are frustrated it’s taken so long to halt […]

From left, Gov. Kristi Noem talks with South Dakota Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal, farmer Travis Mockler and Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden after a bill signing ceremony on March 15, 2023, at C&B Operations in Mitchell. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

New state law makes it harder to file a complaint or lawsuit against ag operations

BY: - March 15, 2023

MITCHELL — A new South Dakota law makes it harder to file a nuisance complaint or lawsuit against an agricultural operation and limits the amount of money that can be awarded. Governor Kristi Noem signed the bill on Wednesday at a farm implement dealership in Mitchell, after legislators approved it earlier this winter. The law […]

General Motors Co. announced plans to double revenue by 2030 with new battery-electric vehicles and hopes to surpass leading electric carmaker Tesla with the release of a new $30,000 electric SUV. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

States to receive $2.5B from feds for electric vehicle charging infrastructure

BY: - March 14, 2023

The federal government will send $2.5 billion over the next five years to states, local governments and tribes to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure, Biden administration officials said Tuesday. The new Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grant program, which was authorized by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, will spend $2.5 billion over five years to build […]

The sun sets on a wetland northwest of Hartford, South Dakota. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

U.S. House votes to roll back Biden’s WOTUS rule

BY: - March 10, 2023

The U.S. House voted Thursday to undo a Biden administration definition of wetlands that allows for regulations on private lands. The chamber approved, 227-198, a resolution to roll back the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s broader definition of what qualifies as “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, for the purposes of federal regulation under the […]

State Sen. Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City, testifies on a bill during a legislative committee hearing Feb. 24, 2023, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

$50 million water legislation falls two votes short on final day

BY: - March 10, 2023

Amid all the excitement over the passage of a sales-tax reduction on the final day of regular legislative business Thursday, a bill to devote $50 million of federal money to water projects quietly died. Sen. Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City, had hoped her water legislation, Senate Bill 156, would pass before legislators left the Capitol. They […]

An antelope walks through dry grass. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

State caps non-resident archery licenses on public land

BY: - March 9, 2023

South Dakota will join most other states in capping deer and antelope archery licenses for out-of-state hunters on public land. The state Game Fish and Parks Commission unanimously approved the change Thursday at a meeting in Pierre. South Dakota had been one of the few states that allowed an unlimited number of non-resident bowhunters on […]

Demonstrators at the "Rally for Resilience," headed by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, in Washington, D.C., on March 8, 2023. (Adam Goldstein/States Newsroom)

Progressive agriculture groups rally for land access, climate-smart policies in farm bill

BY: - March 8, 2023

WASHINGTON — Farmers and leaders from more than 20 progressive agricultural groups gathered this week to march on the U.S. Capitol, and promote climate solutions and underserved producers as priority issues for lawmakers in the upcoming farm bill.  “As farmers, we are close to the land. We love the land. We understand the sanctity and […]

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, speaks March 7, 2023, during a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety. (Screenshot/subcommittee video)

U.S. Senate panel probes how crypto mining increases energy consumption

BY: - March 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — The so-called mining for digital assets, or cryptocurrency, consumes as much electricity as some entire nations, and U.S. senators explored the issue Tuesday in what they said was their first-ever hearing focused on the energy implications of digital currency.   Crypto mining in both Nebraska and Pennsylvania was discussed in particular by the members […]

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack speaks March 6, 2023, at the National Farmers Union conference in San Francisco. (Courtesy of National Farmers Union)

U.S. agriculture secretary unveils initiatives aimed at small and midsized operations

BY: - March 6, 2023

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday announced new steps the Department of Agriculture is taking to recenter U.S. agriculture and benefit small and midsized operations, including a proposed new “Product of USA” labeling rule and an $89 million expansion of the USDA intermediary lending program.  At the National Farmers Union conference in San Francisco, […]

COMMENTARY
Chestnut mushrooms ready for harvest in 2022 at Mother Fungi in Missoula, Montana. (USDA/FPAC photo by Preston Keres)

A doctor’s perspective: Here’s how Sen. Thune can support South Dakota farmers

BY: - March 2, 2023

South Dakota’s Sen. John Thune recently told the PBS News Hour, “This is a farm bill year. And it’s an issue that historically has been bipartisan. There are things that we can do there to support those who feed not only our country, but the world.” I’m a doctor, not a farmer, but the farm bill is important to […]