Journal editorial, 8-15: Rally vs. Bear Butte

By The Journal Editorial Board | Tuesday, August 15, 2006

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Now that the Sturgis motorcycle rally is over, attention will return to competing visions for the land around Bear Butte State Park: development or preservation.

American Indians and supporters marched to downtown Sturgis on Friday before rally week to call attention to their call for a buffer zone around Bear Butte, which they consider to be a sacred site. They also called on bikers to stay away from Highway 79 which runs past the butte so that the noise from their motorcycles don't disturb their prayers.

As action at the rally continues to move away from downtown Sturgis, more people will eye the land east of Sturgis and near Bear Butte as a prime location for rally-related events.

Buffalo Chip Campground, Glencoe Camp Resort and the new Broken Spoke Saloon two miles north of Bear Butte fall within the proposed five-mile buffer zone. The owner of the Broken Spoke plans to build an outdoor amphitheater in time for next year's rally to serve up the kind of musical acts that have made Buffalo Chip famous. Rock'n the Rally southwest of Bear Butte just finished its first rally concert season.

Indian tribes demonstrated at Meade County Commission hearings when liquor licenses for the Broken Spoke were approved. We admire and respect their willingness to peacefully demonstrate their objections to development encroaching on Bear Butte. Despite the protests, the commission had no legal reason to deny the liquor licenses. Nor can the Meade County Commission stop landowners from developing their land in the absence of county zoning that gives them that authority.

Indian tribes can't realistically depend on landowners and rallygoers to voluntarily adhere to a buffer zone. The solution is for tribes and supporters to buy the land around Bear Butte and preserve it from development. Three tribes have spent $1.3 million to buy 2.6 square miles of land near Bear Butte, but a five-mile buffer zone would encompass more than 78 square miles.

Buying a buffer zone would be expensive, but it also would be the surest way to preserve the land surrounding Bear Butte from inevitable development.