When it comes to removing decaying, decrepit buildings in the Black Hills National Forest, we think the more of them we get rid of, the better off the forest will be.

That's not to say that the old Meeker Ranch near Custer should be completely demolished, but we hope that the U.S. Forest Service will take a hard look at the real historical significance of the place before expending any time, money and resources to preserve it.

The 278-acre parcel of property with its nine old ranch buildings is located about four miles northeast of Custer. The late Ina Davis, the last private owner of the Meeker Ranch, sold it to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which then sold it to the USFS.

Black Hills National Forest officials will preserve the original ranch cabin, which qualifies for the National Historic Register, but planned to destroy or remove the other buildings, which don't, because they pose public safety or vandalism hazards.

Hill City artist Jon Crane has mounted a campaign to save more of the Meeker ranch buildings from destruction. He cites their historical value as a unique example of Black Hills ranching history, not to mention their potential as a subject for one of Crane's watercolor series.

Crane has promised to donate 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale of an original Meeker Ranch painting, and 15 percent of its print-sale profits thereafter, to that effort.

While that's commendable as far as it goes, it doesn't begin to go far enough, financially, to pay the restoration costs and the ongoing maintenance and upkeep that a historic site requires.

Black Hills National Forest Supervisor Craig Bobzien has agreed to wait on the demolition plans to hear other proposals for funding Crane's Meeker Ranch preservation plans. But, he said, the Meeker property is not the only ranch of that era that is a candidate for preservation. Crane and the USFS should expand any discussion about historic structures on USFS property to include other ranches, including the Williams Ranch near Pringle, to make sure the public makes the wisest investment of its resources.

While a Jon Crane painting of the Meeker Ranch would showcase the scenic ranch in the artist's signature style, we have to wonder if returning that pristine forest valley to its original natural condition might not be a better memorial to the past, and a better use of the forest for the future.

The Black Hills National Forest has long been pockmarked with private development, some of which is little more than an eyesore and all of which detracts from the wilderness experience of a public forest.

Because, whether it is a picturesque wooden barn or a multi-million dollar home, any building in the middle of a national forest lessens it.