Public Meeting - Bear Butte Forum
April 29, 2023 08:30 - 12:00 p.m. MST
Location: Sturgis Community Center - 1401 Lazelle Street, Sturgis, SD
The next meeting of the Bear Butte Forum is scheduled for Saturday April 29th, 2023, from 8:30 am to noon MST. The Forum will meet at the Sturgis Community Center located at 1401 Lazelle Street in Sturgis, South Dakota. Participants are responsible for making their own lodging and meal arrangements.
South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks would like to thank all the people who attended the 2022 Bear Butte Forum. Participants came from far and near to share their ideas on how best to preserve the sacredness of the Mountain.
The Bear Butte Forum was established in 1997 to address issues brought to the Department of Game Fish & Parks, by various Tribes throughout the northern plains. These issues may include topics such as Trust, religious use, dogs on the mountain, alcohol consumption on a sacred site, human remains (ashes) being left on the mountain, hunting, artifact looters, park development and overcrowding in the ceremonial area. These are just a few of the ongoing issues that are delt with at Bear Butte.
We are deeply grateful for the investment of time and money it takes to get to the Forum to give us information we need to hear. With your help throughout the years, we have taken the information received from the Forum to make many positive changes.
Tentative Agenda
- Introduction/Visitation
- Discussion Items:
- Bridge replacement with culvert to the Ceremonial Area
- Foot bridge in the Ceremonial Area
- Upper summit trail improvement
- Replaced a mile of barbed wire on the boundary between the park and Tribal land south of Bear Butte Lake
- Law Enforcement on hand to enforce the rules of the park. (Time & Effort)
- Potential Marines doing a one-day exercise in late July with their helicopter to clean up old Trail edging and boards
- Fire danger
We look forward to working with you to provide continued access and protection of the Sacred Mountain.
View All Events