Moskee burn restoration project proposed

Black Hills National Forest officials are proposing to restore the Moskee burn area, located approximately 15 miles southeast of Sundance off Moskee Road.

In August 1936, a wildfire burned approximately 4700 acres on National Forest lands and 2400 acres on private lands near the old town of Moskee.

The Forest Service re-planted and seeded around 2500 acres of the burned area with non-native Ponderosa Pine from outside the Black Hills area.

Foresters say the non-native, dense stands of planted pine are unlikely to develop into a healthy, vigorous forest because the trees are not suited to...