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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 2d

Before the shutdown hit, BHPFA staff pitched in at Pinnacles near Wall, SD. Building fence and spreading gravel during United Way’s Month of Caring.

If you're visiting now:
- Leave no trace.
- Pack patience.
- Thank your rangers when they’re back.

#BlackHills #NationalGrasslands #UnitedWay

Volunteers install log fencing and spread gravel at grassy campsite; text reads “United Way Month of Caring.”

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

A12: Please brush up on your Leave No Trace skills if you're going to visit the NPS or USFS sites during the shutdown, and encourage friends and neighbors to do the same. The Joshua Tree questions today gave us a lot of PTSD about the last shutdown. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

A11: One that people don't think about: do NOT use earthworms for fishing. Earthworms that escape or are dumped along rivers or lakes quickly migrate into forest ecosystems that are not at all adapted for them. They take out all the floor litter the tree roots depend on. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

#parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

They dropped it in early 2024. I don't think they really replaced it with anything... they did a head fake towards "the good life" or similar for a bit but that went away from the marketing too. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

Nice!

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

Not as much old-growth in Big Thicket compared to Congaree, alas. Though we still proudly wear the shirts we got for helping plant very VERY NOT-old growth forest there. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

A9: Minerals. And Route 66! They have some historic abandoned cars and some of the telephone lines/poles that lined the old mother road still in certain spots. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

#parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

A7: Petroglyphs!

Petroglyphs vs Pictographs is always good for a junior ranger book question in parks that feature either. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

Arches are erosion and weathering (wind, freeze/thaw cycles)... bridges are from flowing water. IIRC. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

A5: Sedimentary. Our favorite stone is in Jewel Cave. Cave bacon.

mmmmmm.... bacon.

#parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

A4: D. And yep, been there to the park. It's quite striking. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

If you want a good (bad? Terrible? Weep for the future of humanity?) time, check out the comments on Fort Laramie's facebook post announcing their closure for the govt shutdown. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

A3: I remember that Natural Bridges rangers would get very cranky if you called them arches. So not there, I guess. :) #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

A2: We had an online visitor try to tourisplain us that the reason Agate Fossil Beds (mixed grass prairie) doesn't have any trees is because the NPS does too many controlled burns. So that was a fun tree thing today. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

#parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

It's been a bit of a 24 hours, but BHPFA is here. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

A1: (Looks around at two cave parks with a bunch of nifty rocks... turns and looks towards Black Hills National Forest...)

#parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

Great question. Don't have an answer. It was Association of National Park Rangers' gig, we were just helping bring attention to it. Imagine the panel discussion was 'feisty.'

@cnhamoab.bsky.social has a recording of his talk last year which was on the same topic: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7U7...

The History & Future of America's Public Land with Walt Dabney

YouTube video by Canyonlands Natural History Association

www.youtube.com

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 7d

Visitor centers are closed.
Our in-person stores and phone lines shut with them.

But we’re still here. The online store is open, and email still works.

Public lands need support now more than ever.

Shop. Donate. Join. Let's reopen stronger.
bhpfa.org

#ParkChat #NationalParks #Shutdown

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 9d

Why are public lands mostly in the West?
Short answer: war, deals, and the Homestead Act.

Long answer: Find out tomorrow at a free talk + panel with Walt Dabney at the Journey Museum in Rapid City. 6 pm.

Presented by Association of National Park Rangers

#BlackHills #NationalParks #PublicLands

The History & Future of America's Public Land Presentation by Walt Dabney - Black Hills Parks & Forests Association

Join Walt Dabney—former National Park Service Superintendent and Texas State Parks Director—for an eye-opening talk on how America’s public lands came to be, why most are in the West, the economic val...

blackhillsparks.org

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 13d

Not all forest heroes photosynthesize. And not all heroes wear capes. Some are caps.

Fungi feed, connect, and recycle the Black Hills from the ground up.

Celebrate Mushroom Month with the only Black Hills field guide to fungi. Get it at bhpfa.org/shop

#BlackHills #NationalForests #MushroomMonth

Book Mushrooms and Other Fungi on soil texture background; text reads “September is Mushroom Month” in tan block letters.

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 14d

My daughter was in middle school when she watched the Ken Burns series and developed some... opinions... on McClellan. You still can't say that name around her without a series of expletives that would make a sailor blush. #parkchat

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Black Hills Parks & Forests Association @blackhillsparks.bsky.social · 14d

A9: Ponder before you post: will sharing a sensitive natural or cultural site result in it being trampled, damaged, or vandalized? Many NPS resources rangers would rather you not share (or at least strip the geotag) photos of un-disclosed indigenous artifacts / paleoart, for example. #parkchat

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