Fall needle cast is natural for many conifers, including ponderosa pine. The trees shed their oldest leaves each fall, but the leaves at the branch tips remain green. Pine trees that lose their newer leaves at the branch tips may be stressed or diseased. Photo by Jill Welborn.

Perhaps it’s just me, but I think many people are relieved to see the fall colors and relish the cool mornings here on the Black Hills National Forest. Read more »

Seth Bullock’s plans for the Mount Roosevelt monument

Mount Roosevelt in South Dakota is maintained by the Black Hills National Forest as a recreational trail and picnic area where the  5,690-foot summit is dominated by the Friendship Tower— a stone memorial that rises about 25 feet above the surrounding meadow.

Friendship Tower was built by Seth Bullock in 1919 in honor of his friend President Theodore Roosevelt.  Bullock, a former sheriff of Deadwood, S.D.,  wanted to create a memorial of his friend’s life and a place where people could view wide open spaces that both Bullock and Roosevelt had become so fond of during their lives. He had met Roosevelt, then a deputy sheriff from Medora, N.D., in 1884. The two quickly became lifelong friends, Roosevelt later saying of Bullock, “Seth Bullock is a true Westerner, the finest type of frontiersman.” Read more »