SD Guard want to use fed grasslands for wartime training

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RAPID CITY (AP) — The South Dakota Army National Guard wants to use a 500-acre section of Buffalo Gap National Grassland for wartime training.

The grasslands would host more than 1,000 soldiers each June for the next five years.

The project could put soldiers on the grassland for training as early as this June. The Guard would establish training areas that would include fuel stations, helicopter landing zones, medical services, showers and kitchens.

The Guard published its final environmental study last week and the public has until April 14 to comment on the plan.

The Guard has used the Black Hills National Forest and portions of Custer State Park for wartime training since 1960. Buffalo Gap would be an additional training location.

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