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Comments due on the proposed Benchmark Timber sale draft EA (BHNF), June 22nd
June 22 @ 11:50 pm - 11:59 pm
Comments due on the proposed Benchmark Timber sale draft EA (BHNF), June 22nd
Comments would be due for Benchmark Vegetation Management Project EA on Sunday, June 21st at 11:59 pm except the Forest Service has a rule in the planning regulation (36 CFR 219) that if deadlines fall on a Sunday or Holiday you move the deadline, to next working day — so Benchmark comments are due on Monday.
Environmental Assessment
Location Summary:
The project area is located south of Lead-Deadwood, SD, and is bounded by Vanocker Canyon Highway (Forest Highway 26), Benchmark Road (National Forest System Road 198), Custer Crossing Road (National Forest System Road 256), and Rochford Road (County Highway 17).
For more info:
Quotes from the Benchmark Vegetation Management EA
“The Benchmark project is necessary because:
• Executive Order 14225 calls on the Forest Service to increase production of
commercial timber from National Forest System Lands (White House 2025).
• The Benchmark project area is in a landscape determined by the Secretary of
Agriculture (Secretarial Memo 1078-006) to be in an emergency situation in
regard to fire and insect risk. Actions to reduce fire hazard and insect risk while
providing timber to local industry are priorities in these landscapes (USDA 2025).
• The entirety of the Benchmark project area is within the wildland-urban interface
(WUI) as identified in the Lawrence County Community Wildfire Protection Plan
(Lawrence County 2022). The project area is located immediately south of Lead-
Deadwood, SD, is bisected by US Highway 385, which is a major travel route
through the Forest, and includes approximately 10,513 acres of private land.
Actions to reduce fire hazard on National Forest System lands are prioritized in
WUI through Forest Plan and Washington Office direction.
• Approximately 88.1% of the Benchmark project area is in MA 5.1 (Resource
Production Emphasis). Objectives 5.1-201, 5.1-202, and 5.1-203 call for
providing timber products while also providing for a variety in stand sizes, shape,
crown closure, age structure and interspersion and for maintaining or enhancing
hardwood communities.
Proposed Action: What are we proposing to do?
We are proposing to conduct a combination of commercial and non-commercial
vegetation treatments on National Forest System (NFS) land within the Benchmark
project area on the Northern Hills Ranger District of the Black Hills National Forest. We
have prepared this environmental assessment (EA) to document the effects of the
proposed action and to determine if significant effects would result that would require
further analysis in an environmental impact statement (EIS). This EA fulfills agency
policy and direction and complies with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),
the National Forest Management Act (NFMA), the Black Hills National Forest Land and
Resource Management Plan as amended by the Phase II Amendment (Forest Plan,
USDA-Forest Service 2006a), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Clean Water Act
(CWA), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and other applicable laws,
regulations, and policies. This document was prepared under the Department of
Agriculture’s 2025 NEPA regulations at 7 CFR 1b.
The Benchmark project area encompasses a total of 48,516 acres of land, including
38,003 acres of NFS land and 10,516 acres of private land. Proposed activities would
only occur on NFS land.
As defined by the Forest Plan, the Benchmark project area includes portions of three
management areas (MA): 164 acres of MA 3.1 (Botanical Area), 33,486 acres of MA 5.1
(Resource Production), and 4,353 acres of MA 5.4 (Big Game Winter Range).
The interdisciplinary team (IDT) has identified the following actions to address the
purpose and need for the Benchmark project:
Table 1. Proposed Action Treatments
Vegetation Treatments Acres
Commercial Thin 8,222
Shelterwood Removal 6,096
Shelterwood Establishment 1,422
Group Selection 1,976
Hardwood Enhancement 821
Meadow Enhancement 74
Pre-commercial Thin (Silviculture emphasis)* 409
Hazardous Fuel Reduction** 7,146
Prescribed Fire 38,003
Shaded Fuel Break 6,807
Benchmark Vegetation Management EA
Road Work Miles
Maintenance 172.6
Reconstruction 14.3
New Construction 0
*These acres represent stands where only pre-commercial thinning is proposed, with not associated commercial treatment. Any stand proposed for a commercial treatment would also be considered for a follow-up pre-commercial treatment based on stand conditions.
**Some acres proposed for hazardous fuel reduction overlap areas proposed for commercial timber harvest. In those stands, fuel conditions will be evaluated following the commercial treatment, and fuel reduction will occur where necessary based on stand conditions”