File:Black Hills National Forest and Badlands (MODIS 2017-04-15).jpg

English: On April 13, 2017, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite flew over South Dakota and captured this true-color image of the Black Hills National Forest and Badlands.

The prairies of South Dakota give way to two stunning landscapes in the western part of the state. The stark and stunning multi-layered sedimentary buttes of the Badlands rise abruptly out of mixed-grass prairie. The formation of the Badlands started about 80 million years ago. First, a large inland sea laid down sediment, which later became a rock layer known as Pierre Shale. About forty-five million years later, sand, mud, and gravel had spread over the shale. Later, winds carried ash from distant volcanic activity and laid it in yet another layer. For many millions of year, the land was building and rising faster than it could be eroded. When erosive forces took the lead, the the naturally-sculpted formations seen in the Badlands today began to be carved. Erosion continues at a frenetic pace. According to some sources, an inch or more of surface is removed each year from formations such as the “Wall” – one of the more famous geological formations in the park.

West of the Badlands, the prairie once again gives way to the evergreen forests of the Black Hills. These timbered mountains spread across an area that is about 125 mi (201 km) long and 65 mi (105 km) wide and crosses the South Dakota border into Wyoming. The Black Hills were formerly considered sacred land and a sanctuary by Native Americans and are said to have been a peaceful meeting ground for warring tribes. Recognizing the uniqueness and the importance of the forest and the land, President Grover Cleveland established the Black Hills National Forest in 1897. Today, the US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service manages the public land for recreation, wildlife diversity, water production, livestock grazing, timber harvest, and other uses.

The once uniform green of the Black Hills National Forest is marred by spots of gray and red. These are areas where the Pine Beetle has infested the conifers, first turning them reddish-brown and then killing them as they stand. More than a third of the trees in the Black Hills have been infested by beetles, despite the state spending over 8 million dollars fighting the damaging insects. The rate of spread seems to be slowing, but pine beetles are one of the major natural hazards affecting the Black Hills.