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Dear friends,
Our tearful farewell to Porcupine was billed as our last update. We hope you can forgive us for tagging on one (final) final update to share some excellent news with you.
We've shared quite a bit over the past several years about our partners' work to protect Bear Butte from increasing encroachment by biker bars and campgrounds. All of that hard work is showing some encouraging results!
Earlier this month, the Meade County Commissioners denied Jay Allen's application for renewal of his license to serve liquor at his new Sturgis County Line biker bar. Back in June they also denied his beer license renewal. The stated reason for both denials is Allen's unpaid bills with local contractors who built the bar. Allen's financial troubles may be related to both declining Sturgis Bike Rally attendance and increasing support among bikers for Bear Butte protection. A number of biker magazines and organizations have asked their readers/members to only patronize establishments further from the Butte.
Even more significantly, South Dakota governor Mike Rounds recently announced that the state is negotiating with Bear Butte-area landowners to buy conservation easements to prevent further commercial development around the Butte.
Our partners have asked for a four- or five-mile buffer zone around Bear Butte with no alcohol sales and no new development. We hope that this will be the next step in this process. Ultimately, we are praying that Bear Butte and all of the Black Hills be returned to the Lakota Nation along with the rest of the 1868 Treaty Territory. One step at a time...
blessings,
Carl & Karissa
