Western OTFY: Mary LaHood and Bob Burns

What makes them outstanding?

Bob Burns and Mary LaHood have been and continue to be conscientious, pro-active, hands-on stewards of their forested land.  They have been a certified tree farm for over 20 years and have operated under an approved management plan since 1994.  Their management of the land is focused on multiple uses that includes a comprehensive array of management activities occurring over past years and planned for the future.  These include:  timber harvests incorporating a variety of silvicultural treatments; timely TSI efforts; mountain pine beetle sanitation and mitigation management; wildlife habitat improvement; recreational use””hiking, family camping/recreating; hunting; protection of special sites (spring, historical site); cooperation and co-management with adjacent landowners (US Forest Service, private entities); noxious/invasive weed control efforts; wildfire hazard reduction/mitigation.

They are not only dedicated stewards of their own forested property, but have demonstrated a broader leadership commitment to responsible natural resource management in the Black Hills area.  Bob is currently serving as President of the local Norbeck Society (environmental conservation group); Past President and current member of the National Forest Advisory Board Black Hills National Forest, and a South Dakota Family Forest Association Committee Member.  Mary is the Executive Director and Treasurer of the South Dakota Family Forest Association.

As documented throughout this nomination form, Bob and Mary deserve recognition for their dedication and exceptional effort managing their forested land as part of the American Tree Farm System as well as their commitment and demonstrated leadership involving the South Dakota Family Forest Association and other natural resource organizations.  

Tree Farmer Story 

The railroad has played a role in connecting people to new lands since its inception and so it was with the LaHood-Burns Family Forest. Bob Burn’s great-grandfather purchased the land in 1887 for $675 while working on the construction of the first railroad through the Piedmont Valley in western South Dakota. Nineteen years later on Dec 7th 1906, he contracted with a sawmill to harvest pine trees eleven inches in diameter at two-and-a-half feet above the ground for $8,500. An inflation calculation from 1913 would estimate it at almost $210,000 today.

The land remained unoccupied until Bob’s father built their home in 1956. Other than a major timber theft in the 1930s there was no history of timber management until Bob took over the property following his father’s death in 1969. At that time Bob was majoring in Environmental Science at Rutgers University and had taken several courses in forestry and watershed management.

As he built his excavation company which specialized in land and stream improvements for the U.S. Forest Service and South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks, Bob used his slow time to begin thinning some of the several overgrown dog hair areas that dominated the property. Bob worked by himself at first, selling posts to help finance the thinning project, but soon learned about available cost-share programs. This enabled him to hire timber contractors to help with the work.

Bob’s marriage to Mary LaHood in 1986 and the subsequent birth of three of their four children ushered in a period of slowed conservation work on the property. On August 15, 1994, however, that all changed when the lightning-caused Stagebarn forest fire erupted on National Forest Service land bordering the LaHood-Burns property.

By that evening, the fire appeared under control. State and Forest Service firefighters positioned themselves atop a ridge on the LaHood-Burns property where they’d established a mobile water reservoir and could monitor the fire overnight. Bob assured Mary, now in her last month of pregnancy with their fourth child, that they could go to sleep with no worries.

Around midnight that night, however, they were awakened when their bedroom window glowed red as flames soared over a hundred feet in the air. The fire had blown up, forcing the firefighters to flee and abandon the reservoir.

Bob rushed to the emergency fire headquarters set up in the local elementary school where he discovered that Forest Service heavy equipment was being mobilized and the homes adjacent to the LaHood-Burns property were being evacuated.

From his work, Bob knew many of the Forest Service personnel onsite and his knowledge of the area became instrumental in laying out an attack plan. About two o’clock in the morning when the first Forest Service bulldozer arrived, Bob was enlisted to guide the operator in creating a fire line through the length of their tree farm.

During the next fourteen hours they put in almost two miles of fire line to surround the fire on the south and west sides. The fire did not jump the fire lines and no homes were lost. In addition to the fire line, a mile long, hundred-foot wide fuel break established seven years prior was instrumental in slowing the fire.

The experience with the Stagebarn Fire and the upcoming task of dealing with the eighty burned acres of their land re-focused Bob and Mary on forest health. Bob contacted Fred Goetz, a professional forester, who explained the benefits of the American Tree Farm System. With that, a stewardship plan was drawn up and a comprehensive timber management plan was initiated, which included not only a salvage sale of the burned property, but a sawlog harvest, a post-and-pole sale and the precommercial thinning of the remaining accessible property.

One long-standing obstacle to serious timber management on the property was that the access for the heavy logging trucks passed through two separate subdivisions situated on opposite sides of the property. With the help of the forester, Bob contacted the homeowners to explain the benefits of a well-managed, fire-resistant forest adjacent to their homes as well as address any concerns about the impact on the gravel roads. As a result of those dialogues, many neighbors not only welcomed the logging project, but some adjoining landowners added a total of eighty acres to the treatment area. Even today the impact of that continues as a new neighboring landowner is taking steps to enter the tree farm system.

Completion of that initial project earned the Stewardship Forest and Certified Tree Farm signs that proudly still stand at the entrance to the property a quarter of a century later. Little did Bob and Mary know then, but that placement of those signs marked an even more significant passage - one that propelled the LaHood-Burns Family Forest into a new era of robust, active, and rewarding stewardship of the land.

What allowed them to strengthen, grow and increase their role in caring for their family forest? Bob and Mary attribute it directly to the ATFS, the South Dakota Family Forests Association, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Programs (EQIP), and Neiman Timber Company. It was through their interaction with those entities that they met the numerous forestry professionals, like Tate Lantz (NRCS), Tanse Herrmann (NRCS), Brian Garbisch of South Dakota Resource Conservation and Forestry (SDRC&F), Allyssa Gregory (SDRC&F), John “Parks” Brigman (SDRC&F) as well as loggers, and independent foresters like Fred Goetz, Bill Coburn and Phill Grumstrup who generously shared their time and knowledge, and displayed genuine enthusiasm for the land.

Because of Bob and Mary’s passion and the impact and influence of all those involved, the LaHood-Burns Family Forest is a place where neighbors hike and hunt, where the family works the land and gathers at their campsite, where youth groups experience nature and community and governmental groups are educated about tree farming, where marriage proposals occur, and where the foundation for the next generation of family forest landowners is being built.

Describe any outreach on behalf of sustainable forestry that the Tree Farmer has done 

Bob conducted tours of the LaHood-Burns Family Forest with South Dakota Secretary’s of Agriculture Kim Vannemann in 2019 and Mike Jaspers in 2017 to explain the operations and benefits of the Tree Farm program.

Bob and other SDFFA members have represented the South Dakota Family Forests Association annually at the South Dakota AgFest Legislative Social at the state capitol to speak with legislators about the role of tree farms in agriculture.

During the 2019 South Dakota Legislative Session, Bob testified before the House Agriculture Committee regarding the importance of state funding for forest health.

Bob, Mary and two of their children hosted an all-day South Dakota Family Forests Association workshop and tree farm tour for county tax assessors from throughout western South Dakota including representatives from South Dakota State Department of Revenue. Presentations were made by tree farmers, foresters, Neiman Timber, and Black Hills National Forest Supervisor. The objective was to demonstrate workings and economics of a tree farm, how it differs from other Agriculture producers, and continued importance of certified tree farms to receive an Agriculture tax classification.

Bob presented at the USGS Hydrology Conference field trip on effects of removing pine encroachment in hardwood areas and restoration of spring flows.

Twice Bob and Mary hosted tours of their tree farm and adjacent Botany Canyon to an International Environmental Exchange Group comprised of foreign leaders representing governmental ministries of environment, tourism and agriculture.

Bob and Mary hosted the Norbeck Society, a local environmental organization, on several occasions: a tree farm tour, two annual meetings and their annual Botanical Wonder Crawl.

Bob has been interviewed by media numerous times and was featured in the Rapid City Journal newspaper for the hardwood enhancement project and on South Dakota Public Broadcasting for a television piece about mountain pine beetle infestation.

For the following areas describe how the landowner's management addresses it 

Wood: 

• 1970-71. Bob thinned an overstocked area, hauling and stockpiling posts.
• 1974-81. Working with South Dakota (SD) State foresters and cost-share programs: Rural Environmental Assistance Program (REAP), Forest Incentives Program (FIP), Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS), 119 acres of precommercial thinning (PCT) completed by Bob and forest contractors.
• 1976-77. SD State foresters arranged two timber sales of small diameter wood (27 acres).
• 1978. SD State Wildland Fire constructed a 100 foot wide by 1.5 mile long fuel break to protect adjoining subdivisions.
• 1979. Prescribed burn by SD State Wildland Fire completed to eliminate slash and reduce fuels (8 acres).
• 1994-96. Following Stagebarn fire: 158 acre timber sale including fire salvage, saw timber, post-and-pole and firewood, and 50 acres PCT.
• 1998. Stewardship Incentive Program (SIP): 20 acres PCT.
• 1999-2004. Weed control spraying and mowing (variable acreage).
• 2005-2010. Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP) funded by Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation: 5 PCT areas (21 acres), timber harvest removing all pine from hardwood area (14 acres) and all pine under 15” in meadow (15 acres).
• 2008. Per State Wildlife Biologist direction, Bob and Mary fenced three aspen stands from deer depredation.
• 2011. With grant from the Black Hills National Forest, State Foresters implemented “cut-and-chunk” of infested pine to help mitigate mountain pine beetle attack throughout property.
• 2012-2015. Weed control spraying and mowing on variable acres.
• 2013. Pilot project for Meade County Firewise Hire-a-Veteran Program 3.1 acre PCT.
• 2016. 120 acre timber harvest of 3,700 tons.
• 2017-21. Through CSP and EQIP Programs established a tree/shrub planting for wildlife food, pine removal from hardwoods, and PCT over 10 stands totaling 77 acres.
• 2021. Future thinning and fuel break on 10 acres through State Foresters under the Pennington County Conservation Thinning for Forest Health Grant.

Water: 

• As a result of the Stagebarn Fire, major rehab work was required. Bob and Mary enlisted the help of friends and family to seed thirty acres of the burned area with a seed mix specified by State Forestry. Additionally, they installed erosion control structures in the draws.
• They established and continue to maintain water bars on the fire break trail and on all logging roads on steep slopes. Additionally, they established a new logging road after the fire with culverts, switchbacks and grade control to minimize water diversion from natural drainage’s.
• Following all timber projects, they work to rehab disturbed areas such as slash pile burn sites and skid trails by re-seeding and spraying or mowing weeds in order to encourage native grasses which are more resistant to erosion.
• In the Stagebarn Canyon adjacent to the LaHood-Burns property, Bob was contracted by the U. S. Forest Service to eliminate user-created off-road ATV trails and reclaim hill climbs in a burned area resulting from the Ricco Fire. There was no provision for reseeding so Bob organized eighteen volunteers from a local environmental group to seed and construct erosion control structures on the damaged areas.
• See narrative under Wildlife below regarding reestablishment of an old spring on the Family Forest.

Wildlife including threatened and endangered species: 

• There are no known state or federal threatened or endangered species on the LaHood-Burns Family Forest.
• With the cost-sharing assistance of the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP), funded in part by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), all pine trees were removed from an eighteen acre hardwood area which resulted in a spring flowing for the first time in recent memory. Bob and his son constructed a pool fed by the spring in order to create a wildlife watering source. Grouse immediately moved into the hardwood area. Turkey, deer, mountain lion, coyote, fox, squirrels and numerous other small animals and birds have benefited from the growth of oak, chokecherry, aspen, birch, green ash, hawthorn and other native plants that were previously inhibited by the thick pine overstory.
• In 2017, Bob and Mary established a second hardwood area which not only provides wildlife habitat but also a fuel break, free of pine trees, along the property borders adjacent to a neighboring subdivision and the National Forest.
• Additionally, where feasible, large pine trees were girdled and allowed to remain standing to provide bird and wildlife habitat.
• Bob and Mary are currently enrolled in a Conservation Stewardship Program focused on the establishment of tree and shrub planting for wildlife food. The practice includes not only the prescribed planting, but protective fencing until the plants reach maturity. Over three hundred feet of seven-foot deer fence, as well as individual cages, have been installed.

Recreation and Aesthetics including special sites: 

• Established in 1897 by President Grover Cleveland, the Black Hills Forest Reserve was the precursor to the Black Hills National Forest. Black Hills Forest Reserve Boundary Post #48 is situated on the LaHood-Burns Family Forest. It is one of the remaining survey posts erected when U. S. surveyor William Thorn, beginning in 1899, mapped and marked 217 miles to define the forest boundary.
• Adjacent to the LaHood-Burns property is a biologically-diverse spring-fed canyon known as Botany Canyon. Though the majority of it resides on adjacent National Forest, access to the stream is through the LaHood-Burns Family Forest. In 2004 excessive off-road travel through the sensitive spring inspired Bob to rally the U. S. Forest Service, environmental groups, off-road groups and a boy scout seeking his Eagle Scout badge to build and install a post-and-rail fence with a walk-through gate on the LaHood-Burns tree farm. Off-road motorized travel stopped, thus protecting the creek and the extraordinary sampling of flora in Botany Canyon.
• An earth-sheltered whiskey still, built in the early 1900s, is located just below the flowing spring (referenced under Wildlife section above). It serves as a point of interest and speculation as to its history and origins with respect to the logging and railroad activities in the canyon below.
• The Lahood-Burns Family Forest property has evolved into a place for both solitary and group activities. Bob and Mary created a camp/picnic site with fire pit and benches. Every year, Bob mows trails enjoyed by hikers, cyclists, bow hunters and horseback riders. As a result of timber management thinning, the LaHood-Burns Family Forest boasts a resplendent view of Bear Butte and several remarkable vantage points overlooking Stagebarn Canyon and other vistas. 

Describe other forestry programs or organizations in which the Tree Farmer participates

Bob Burns serves as a Director on the South Dakota Family Forests Association board. He also chairs the Communications & Advocacy sub-committee of the organization.

Mary LaHood is the Executive Director and Treasurer of the South Dakota Family Forests Association. She serves on the Financial & Fundraising sub-committee.

Bob is on the National Forest Advisory Board (NFAB) and has served as its President and Vice President. NFAB is a sixteen member board established by congress to “provide advice and recommendations on a broad range of Black Hills National Forest issues.” With three hundred thousand acres of the Black Hills in South Dakota and Wyoming being held in private, mostly family-owned forest plots, Bob believes the health of both private and public forested land is dependent on each other.

The LaHood-Burns Family Forest served as the pilot project for the Meade County Firewise Program’s Hire a Veteran Program whose objective is to hire and train, often newly returning, veterans to work on thinning and fuel reduction practices in the forested areas of Meade County.

Bob and Mary have long believed in public service in the local community. Bob is President of the Norbeck Society, a local environmental group that promotes sustainable use of the National Forest. He served on the Meade County School Board for eleven years in the capacity of both President and Vice President. He is a member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization and is on the Piedmont Valley Lutheran Church council. In the past, he served on the City of Piedmont Planning board and the Stavkirke Chapel in the Hills board, where he and forester Phill Grumstrup implemented the Firewise program. Mary has also served on the Piedmont Valley Lutheran Church council, was an organizer for a local women’s organization, and has volunteered for various community organizations.