An advisory panel to the Black Hills National Forest Service is recommending the agency remove the Mitchell Lake dam near Hill City.
The group said last Wednesday the forest service should replace the 90-year-old lake and dam with a stream.
Forest Service officials say the Mitchell Lake dam is in poor condition and poses a flood risk downstream. The recreational lake is located upstream from Sheridan Lake along Highway 16.
According to the Forest Service, the price tag to replace the Mitchell Lake dam is $35 million. Alternatively, they say to remove the dam and restore the Spring Creek stream would cost about $2.4 million.
Scott Kenner, an environmental representative on the advisory board, said replacing the dam comes with a steep cost.
“In rebuilding the stream, it would still be a put and take fishery. People could fish along that," Kenner said. "That part of the design is really at the early stages. Different things can be built into that. There would be access.”
The decision is not easy for Kenner. He learned to canoe on Mitchell Lake.
Emotional connections to the lake are one reason many would like to see the lake remain. Another is concern about losing small dam fishing in the Black Hills.
Jim Scull represents sportsmen on the advisory board. He said he’d like to see the dam get replaced.
“This dam was allowed to deteriorate, unfortunately, by the federal government. Now, they want to take it out," Scull said. "That takes away a whole resource for future generations forevermore. This is permanent. It’s too bad.”
Scull said he thinks the $35 million price tag to replace the dam is too high.
Forest Service officials say they’d like to decide on the Michell Lake dam in the coming months.
