- John Brockelsby
I am one of the many local citizens who have long awaited the momentous step U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson recently took: introducing legislation todesignate 48,000 acres of wilderness within the Buffalo Gap National Grassland.

- Thom Gabrukiewicz

A low carpet of greens and browns helps soften the landscape, the erosion that's carved steep wedges leading to gravel-filled creeks, where chalky waters flow like a melted vanilla malt.

Above the ever-present rush of the wind, nature resonates.

- Ken Woster

A dozen steps out of her SUV, Cheryl Warren stops to collect the view of Indian Creek valley below.

It stretches for miles to the south and west in a mix of deep-green grass and tawny humps and buttes decorated with cedar trees and flowering yucca and cactus.

“I love this,” Warren says. “It just never fails to blow me away.”

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Environmental groups are encouraged after a U.S. Senate subcommittee held a hearing on a bill that could add 50,000 acres of new South Dakota wilderness. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests is considering Sen. Tim Johnson's proposed bill, the Tony Dean Cheyenne River Valley Conservation Act, which would designate as wilderness land in the Indian Creek, Red Shirt, and Chalk Hills areas of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in southwest South Dakota.

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Congratulations to Sen. Tim Johnson for introducing a bill to designate a piece of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland as a wilderness area.

- Jim A. Madsen
Sen. Tim Johnson's introduction of the Tony Dean Cheyenne River Valley Conservation Act of 2010 has been long awaited. All of South Dakota should be proud to support the designation of 48,000 acres (8 percent) of the publicly owned Buffalo Gap National Grassland as a permanently protected wilderness area. I find the promise of our nation's first national grassland wilderness being in South Dakota exciting indeed.

- Jerry Oster
Nearly 50,000 acres of land in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in south west South Dakota would be designated as wilderness by a bill introduced in Congress by South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson. Cheryl Warren, coordinator of the South Dakota Wild Grassland Coalition, says this is a unique area that deserves special protections.

- South Dakota Wild Grassland Coalition
The South Dakota Wild Grassland Coalition today praised Senator Tim Johnson for introducing legislation to protect nearly 50,000 acres on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland as wilderness. The group specifically cited Senator Johnson’s effort to reach out to varied stakeholders when crafting his bill.

- Paul Guggenheimer interviews Terry Mayes
Host Paul Guggenheimer discusses a proposal to create a Grassland Wilderness area in South Dakota with Terry Mayes of the South Dakota Wild Grassland Coalition who supports the proposal, and Patty Brown with the Off Road Riders Association who is opposed to it.

- Journal Editorial Board
Is it time to designate up to 50,000 acres of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland east of Rapid City as wilderness? Sen. Tim Johnson believes it is. Yesterday Johnson said he plans to introduce legislation that would largely dovetail with 2002 recommendations from the U.S. Forest Service to designate land in the Indian Creek, Red Shirt and Chalk Hills areas of the national grassland as wilderness.

- Thom Gabrukiewicz
Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said this week he plans to introduce legislation that would create a wilderness area within the Buffalo Gap National Grassland.

- Steve Miller
The South Dakota Wild Grassland Coalition is praising Sen. Tim Johnson’s decision to introduce a bill designating 40,000 to 50,000 acres of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland east of Rapid City as wilderness.

- U.S.Sen. Tim Johnson
Western South Dakota is blessed with some of the nation’s unique and most treasured landscapes. In 2002, U.S.Forest Service under the Bush Administration recognized the value of areas of undisturbed prairie in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland and recommended them for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. I believe it is time to move forward with what would be the country’s first national grassland wilderness so that future generations can experience this area as it has been for hundreds of years.

- Jim Peterson
The beauty of the Black Hills not only draws tourists to the area, but also permanent residents which some say could spoil the very scenery that brought them here. Local leaders got together on Tuesday to hear one idea on how to avoid this potential problem. Thomas Power, an economics professor at the University of Montana, did a study on declaring some areas as wilderness and the effects that has on the economy. His study showed that wilderness classification can have a positive effect.

- Terry Mayes
In our democracy, the marketplace of ideas is open to all. Any idea I advocate to my fellow citizens, you can disagree with. We can debate our views at a public meeting or in letters to the newspaper. This exchange helps hone the issues. As others join in, their views enrich the mix of ideas, maybe helping us find common ground. In the ideal of our American democracy, good public policy comes about as elected officials consider and respond to ideas shaped and sharpened by healthy public discussion. I have such an idea. I am grateful that we are blessed with so much public land in this state, including national forests and national grasslands that produce valuable resources such as timber, livestock forage and useful minerals. But we also have another important natural resource on some areas of our public lands — wide-open spaces.

- Judi Severson
This summer, I visited Indian Creek Proposed Wilderness in Buffalo Gap National Grassland. This area is part of a 71,381-acre proposal put forth by the South Dakota Grasslands Wilderness Coalition. The view into Indian Creek was breathtaking. I believe wilderness is a gift to us and must be treated with respect. The best way to preserve it is with a federal wilderness designation. This would be a great asset to Rapid City and the Black Hills region, not to mention our state. It would be America's first national grassland wilderness.

- Jerry R. Schlekeway
This time of the year, as we spend time with family and friends, consider what we are thankful for, and, of course, exchange presents, I have been thinking about an important gift I would like to see given to my children - and theirs. That's the gift of our irreplaceable wild land.

- Chris Hesla
Media outlets around the country are currently reporting on the growing coalitions of what once might have been considered "strange bedfellows"– hunters and conservationists. The latest issue of the national magazine Washington Monthly, for example, includes a piece citing the successful efforts of sportsmen's groups affiliated with the National Wildlife Federation to stop an 11th-hour amendment to the budget last fall that would have opened up millions of acres of public lands – including wilderness – to development.

- Cheryl Warren
In the 34 years since the devastating effects of Rapid Creek's historic flood, the city has changed a great deal, largely for the better. Some probably miss the small-town feeling Rapid City used to have, but as demonstrated by cities like Billings, Bozeman and Missoula in Montana, and Bend, Ore., small towns with something special going for them don't stay small.

- Janet Gordon Branum
“It is the vision that has set the direction for my life,” writes rancher Dan O’Brien in his book “Buffalo for the Broken Heart.” [sic] “No matter where I am, I can still close my eyes and see that sight from the north slope of the Black Hills: grass swaying in the wind to infinity and a sky that takes up half the world.”

- John Brockelsby
When my father, Earl, started Reptile Gardens, it was a dream with big economic potential. That first day in June 1937, the gross receipts were $3.85, but over the years we've become one of the premier tourist attractions in the Midwest. Earl's dream has become a significant part of the Black Hills regional economy. Our family is proud of this success and the job-building, wage-paying benefits our business has contributed to this region.

- Daniel S. Licht
We South Dakotans are blessed. Our small population is conducive to open and cordial conversation. Our civic-minded media inform and educate us. And we have ready access to lawmakers and their knowledgeable staff. This generally allows for honest and thoughtful discussion of public policy.

- Curt Johnson, director of On Hand Economic Development in Miller and former commissioner of South Dakota School & Public Lands
Imagine this: South Dakota being the first state in the entire USA to possess a nationally designated prairie grasslands wilderness area. How could this be?

- George S. McGovern
My hat is off to the Bush administration. Yes, you read that right. Though I am not known for supporting many of their initiatives, I salute the Bush administration for having formally recommended new wilderness areas on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland east of the Black Hills. This is a fine idea.

- James Abourezk, a former United States senator from South Dakota, who writes from Sioux Falls
Right here in South Dakota, we have the opportunity for a distinctive and unrepeatable coincidence of timing. If successful, we will make our state a significant and historical "first," and will preserve a special type of land our nation has very little left of.

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