The USDA Forest Service will be conducting a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis of activities proposed under the Lower Booth Dam Project.
The project would authorize mowing to reduce potential fire fuel accumulation around Lower Booth Dam. The area encompasses 78 acres of National Forest System lands on the Fort Pierre National Grassland in Jones County, SD.
Lower Booth Dam was a 12 surface-acre stock pond that provided wildlife habitat, livestock water and recreational fishing, until it breached in 2011. Due to the loss of that water source, the surrounding Horsethief West Pasture has not been grazed for several years, so there’s now an abundance of vegetative litter and standing residual vegetation. The site is dominated by invasive grasses– especially smooth brome and Kentucky bluegrass.
The USDA Forest Service and South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department plan to repair Lower Booth Dam, most likely in summer/fall 2022 or 2023. This project would facilitate that repair by clearing the construction site. Mowing dates and frequency would be determined by construction schedule and vegetative conditions, with the earliest possible date of June 16, 2022.
Comment deadline is May 15, 2022.
For more information, or to provide input during the project’s current “scoping period,”:
- Write to:
- Kelly Waage, Fort Pierre Ranger District
- 1020 N. Deadwood Street
- Fort Pierre, SD 57532
- Email kelly.waage@usda.gov
- Call 605-224-5517 (office) or 605-280-1025 (cell).
Additional project information can be found online at:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/nebraska/landmanagement/projects.
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