Black Hills National Forest, Mystic Ranger District, South Dakota, Pactola Project Area

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The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement on a proposal to use multiple vegetation treatments focused on reducing the threat to ecosystem components including forest resources from an existing insect and disease epidemic (mountain pine beetle), creating a landscape condition more adapted to fire and that reduces potential for high severity wildfire near at-risk communities and in the wildland-urban interface. The proposal is being planned for the 26,017 acre Pactola Project Area that includes about 24,863 acres of National Forest System land and about 1,154 acres of interspersed private land. The project area lies west of Pactola Lake and approximately 10 miles west of Rapid City, SD. This project will be conducted as an authorized project under Section 102 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA). Actions proposed for the Pactola Project Area include the following: Thin and harvest approximately 8,566 acres of pine stands using a variety of methods to treat mountain pine beetle (MPB) infested stands, reduce the overall density of pine trees and create a mosaic of structural stages across the landscape. Both commercial harvest and non-commercial