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Our goal is to have the federally-controlled surface and subsurface lands within the Rapid Creek/Castle Creek watershed upstream from Rapid City designated as a recreation area and subject to a mineral claim withdrawal." - Rapid Creek Watershed Action

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A Future Recreation Area! The Rapid Creek Watershed Above Rapid City

News and updates

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Outdoor recreation brought $2.27 billion in direct and indirect income and 48,000 jobs to South Dakota in 2017.  

​Direct spending on hunting alone in the Black Hills is about
$89 million per year.

Rapid Creek Watershed
Let’s Make It A Recreation Area

The Rapid Creek watershed is located in the central Black Hills and includes significant cultural resources, including Pe’ Sla, a key Lakota cultural site.  The watershed is also important because it provides the water for the state’s second-largest municipality, Rapid City, for Ellsworth Air Force Base, and for reservations, smaller communities, and agriculture along the creek as it flows to the Cheyenne and Missouri Rivers.

The Rapid Creek watershed upstream from Rapid City in the Black Hills National Forest is primarily used for recreation. Activities include hunting, fishing, bicycling, motorcycling, snowmobiling, boating, swimming, hiking, bird-watching, camping, equestrian activities, and ATV/UTV riding. Outdoor recreation brought $2.27 billion in direct and indirect income and 48,000 jobs to South Dakota in 2017.  Direct spending on hunting alone in the Black Hills is about $89 million.​

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What is a Recreation Area?

There are two basic types of recreation areas on land that is controlled by the federal government, including land controlled by the Forest Service.  Some recreation areas are designated by the U. S. Congress, as we are working to do for the Rapid Creek watershed, and are permanent (unless the law is revoked).  An example of this is the Sheridan Lake recreation area in the central Black Hills (Sheridan Lake is not in the Rapid Creek watershed).  This recreation area includes grazing, in addition to recreation opportunities and a business.

The second type of federal recreation area is administrative, rather than done by Congress.  It is created by the federal agency that controls the land, and it lasts for 20 years.  In most of the central Black Hills, this controlling federal agency is the U.S. Forest Service.  The Pactola Reservoir area is an example of an administrative recreation area. ​

The Rapid Creek watershed and its connected groundwater aquifers provide the water for the state’s second-largest municipality, Rapid City. 

• ​The average water flow in this section of Rapid Creek is 419 gallons per second.
  
• The water that flows from Rapid Creek down into the aquifers is 18% of average total stream flow.
• Both Rapid City and Ellsworth AFB get drinking water from Rapid Creek and the aquifers.

Why Now?

Rapid Creek, called Mniluzahan (“mni” means water; “luzahan” means fast) by the Lakota, was recently designated as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers because of the criticality of the watershed and the problems that could be associated with gold exploration and mining.  Designating the Rapid Creek watershed west of Rapid City — of which Castle Creek is a part — as a recreation area will allow the existing land uses to continue without disruption from hard rock minerals exploration or mining on public lands or claims.  Gold mining has consistently resulted in numerous water contamination problems.
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Designating the Rapid Creek watershed above Rapid City as a recreation area would also mean withdrawing mining claims that have not been “proven” and protecting the area from threatened large-scale mining.  A "mineral withdrawal" means that mining claims would be eliminated.  Exploration and mining would not be permitted where the surface or the subsurface of the land is federally-controlled. Central Black Hills communities choose an agriculture-and recreation-based economy.

​Even in 2020, when people are limited in their ability to congregate in towns, the recreation opportunities of the Rapid Creek watershed remain, providing area residents and visitors with a variety of ways to escape to the beautiful great outdoors.

How Will We Move Forward?

Creating a designated recreation area will require action by the U.S. Congress.  We are working to engage everyone in our area to encourage our South Dakota Congressional delegation to submit legislation that would create a Rapid Creek watershed recreation area with mineral withdrawal.  Contact them today.

​We also need you to:

• Talk to your friends about Rapid Creek Watershed Action and the Rapid Creek watershed recreation area project
• Sign our petition and encourage your friends and family to visit this website and sign the petition 
• Donate and encourage your friends to donate to this effort
• Write opinion pieces for online and newspaper distribution​
• Talk this up on social media and like, follow, and share our posts: Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram

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​-- for the long haul.

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