RAPID CITY - State employees went undercover and on overtime this summer to watch for arsonists in the Black Hills National Forest, according to Gov. Mike Rounds.

About 30 employees of the Highway Patrol, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Game, Fish & Parks worked each day watching back roads and trails in the Black Hills.

"The intent was to keep track of any unique vehicle or unusual circumstances in which someone who might not belong in a particular area, might be identified," Rounds said.

Most were paid overtime to do so, using unmarked state vehicles. Rounds said the effort cost less than $200,000.

'If we stopped one fire from being started, one fire, we saved not only the taxpayers of South Dakota, but the federal government millions of dollars," said Rounds.

The watchdog effort began just before Independence Day and continued through the Labor Day weekend.