Good news out of Pierre, about the state plan for more campsites in Custer State Park.
It’s smaller, with fewer campsites, less cost to the state and at a different location than originally proposed, and one that would have fewer impacts on wildlife and park aesthetics.
More on that in a second. First, though, how about that buffalo? You know, the one pictured above, looking over my shoulder a few years back along the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer Park.
That’s the kind of mini-adventure you can get on Wildlife Loop, and elsewhere in Custer Park. It’s a wildlife-friendly place.
And wildlife — in this case, elk — were a big part of the reason the governor and state Game, Fish & Parks Department officials have changed their initial proposal to add 176 campsites at a new campground just off the Wildlife Loop Road in undeveloped Barnes Canyon, where nature breathes freely and elk herds roam.
Currently stuck in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee — where it was determined to be dead on arrival — of the state Legislature, HB1048 is being amended down from a $10 million price tag to about $5 million. The revised plan would also take up less land for 66 — rather than 176 — new campsites.
And they would be built near Stockade Lake, where there is already camping in two separate campground units, a boat ramp, fishing piers, and picnic areas, rather than in undeveloped Barnes Canyon, where the elk rule.
State Parks Division Director Scott Simpson says the revised plan, which is expected to have its first hearing in the House Ag and Natural Resources Committee next Tuesday, was the result of public and legislative comments and concerns.
“We listened to them. And we tried to come up with a plan that addresses those concerns,” Simpson says. “This project seems to address them, whether they are wildlife concerns, location, traffic, proximity to the Wildlife Loop Road.”
Simpson said he knows the private campground owners will still have concerns about additional campsites in the park because of the new unit at Stockade. He noted that back in the 1970s there were actually more campsites — about 465 — than there are today.
”So we’re kind of restoring the sites in total number that were lost since the park’s peak in campsites back then when some of them were less organized,” Simpson says.
I don’t know if I’m completely sold on the plan yet. But smaller is better in Custer State Park. And Stockade Lake is much better than Barnes Canyon. Much, much better.
Stockade is a delightful place, good for small-boat action and fishing and camping and birdwatching. And it’s already developed and fairly busy. So adding campsites, while there will be impacts, will be much less of a game-changer in the park.
Private campground owners will still complain about unfair competition. And maybe they’ll win. Maybe they should. But this plan is much better than the original version.
Former Custer State Park Superintendent Rollie Noem agrees. Noem, who is an uncle to Gov. Noem’s husband, Bryon, was a strong critic of the first campsites plan. He says reducing the number of campsites and moving the location to Stockade will limit impacts on wildlife and on traffic on the Wildlife Loop Road.
“Setting aside the campground owners' concerns, which I’m still uncomfortable with, I think this is a good resolution in terms of addressing other concerns and issues with the original location and plan. It’ll be that many more campsites and more traffic in the park, but not concentrated on one of the designated scenic byways.”
The new campground location will be on a piece of land often referred to as the Walsh property. The meadow area near French Creek south of Stockade Lake was purchased by GF&P in the 1970s. And if Rollie Noem remembers right (and I’m pretty sure he does), it was purchased at auction — something that would never happen today.
The state and its vast financial resources outbidding local folks on a piece of private land? Yeah, no. Not going to happen anymore.
And people were pretty upset about it at the time.
“I wasn’t involved in that. I was with parks, but over in eastern South Dakota at the time,” Noem says. “But I remember it. And I remember wondering about whether that was appropriate. When I got to Custer Park, we were still feeling the reverberations of all that, you know, of the state with its deep pockets bidding against private people at auction.”
It is, however, a nice piece of ground for a campground unit. Currently mowed to provide feed for the park buffalo, the land is just over a ridge from the south campground at Stockade. Access would be off the already well-developed Stockade Lake Road, which Rollie Noem says is a much better option than “dumping that traffic” onto nearby French Creek Road, which is gravel and often used by locals.
Simpson says that route was chosen intentionally to stay away from that well-used public road and “keep most of the traffic on our property.”
Also, while the property is within the park boundaries, it is outside of the buffalo fence. So bison won’t be an issue to campers. Simpson also says there is no indication that the land is important to elk in migration or winter or summer use areas.
Noem says he’s “still not a huge fan of expansion, primarily because of the private-sector concerns. That said, the rest of it, if you’re going to add some more campsites and other pieces to it, I think that’s a good resolution.”
Which is not to say the issue is settled. Opposition is likely to continue from campground owners upset about increased state competition and others who oppose more growth in the park.
But the changes make sense, and they will keep the proposal alive in committee, with discussion to start next week.
Oh, and one more thing: How about that buffalo!