Black Hills drilling project canceled after backlash from tribes
A South Dakota mining company has canceled a drilling project in the Black Hills after opposition from Native American tribes and local groups.
In a letter provided Friday by Indigenous advocacy group NDN Collective, Rapid City-based Pete Lien. & Sons told the U.S. Forest Service on Thursday that it was withdrawing its plan of operations for a graphite drilling project. He does not intend to file another plan for this project, the letter states.
Groups opposed the project because of its proximity to a sacred site called Pe’Sla, a prairie in the Black Hills where Sioux tribes hold ceremonies and pray throughout the year. The land is also used for buffalo grazing.
The Forest Service and Pete Lien & Sons did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday afternoon.
Nine tribes in South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service over the project, alleging violations of the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Protection Act for granting permits without an environmental review.
There was also a lawsuit filed by the NDN Collective and environmental groups that claimed the Forest Service should not have exempted the project from an environmental review because it did not meet the requirements for a categorical exclusion. In this case, a temporary restraining order granted against Pete Lien & Sons on Monday banned drilling operations for two weeks.
In a statement, NDN Collective said “today’s victory is multi-faceted and provides a blueprint for future land defense battles.”
The Black Hills, so named for the appearance of its pine- and spruce-covered hills, is home to attractions such as Mount Rushmore and state parks, but it has long been the site of tensions between mining interests and tribes, who view the area as unceded territory.
The Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868 established that the Black Hills belonged to the Sioux tribes, but the U.S. government seized the land years later after the discovery of gold. The Supreme Court later ruled that the tribes should receive compensation, but the tribes have not accepted it and maintain their claims to these lands.
