The Journal places blame for the bug devastation squarely on the shoulders of the U.S. Forest Service.
"Take this article that appeared in the Rapid City Journal on October 21, 1963: "We were warned on Beetles."
The opinion article criticizes the Forest Service for its failure to do more to head off the beetle infestation then ravaging the Hills, despite earlier predictions of the problem from within its own ranks."
The beetle infestation that occurred in the time prior to the 1963 Journal editorial, may well have been to the Forest Service's inaction.
However, the responsibility for the infestation currently on the Black Hills National Forest rests with The Sierra Club, Bryan Brademeyer and other "environmentalists" who challenged in court every single timber sale proposed by the USFS in the late 1970s, '80s and '90s.
Every attempt to manage the forest to avoid the infestation with which we're now faced was tied up in court until a thriving timber industry in the Black Hills was as devastated at the forest itself. Millions of dollars and thousands of jobs are gone and the forest is in the worst shape it's ever been in. And, nobody could be happier about it than Brian and his group of environmental terrorists.
Brademeyer continues his destructive activities, convinced that the only good tree is a burning one.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who has been around awhile that multiple use proponents fear the wilderness designation for the grasslands proposed by Sen. Tim Johnson. All you need to do is take a trip through the Black Elk Wilderness to see the devastation that can happen when "environmentalists" get their way.
The Forest Service has not been sitting on their hands when it comes to protecting our natural resources. Their hands have been tied by the court system, Brademeyer and the Sierra Club.