Projects
The following are ongoing projects that we are currently involved with, which will ultimately benefit Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Please read further about the progress of these worthy initiatives.
Centennial Challenge Legislation Moves Forward
The House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee took action on May 7, 2008, to move forward on funding and authorizing the Centennial Challenge Bill, H.R. 3094. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is a member of this committee, and staff member Leslie Kandaras reported that the bill had been “marked up” and had passed the committee. H.R. 3094 will now be sent to the House of Representatives and Senate for possible passage.
This bill includes $30 million, rather than a proposed $100 million, but is viewed as a start-up for the Centennial and should serve as a “placeholder bill” for 2009 consideration of the full request of $100 million.
Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and National Park Service Director Mary Bomar have been proponents of this enormous incentive program to leverage federal funding with private philanthropy through Friends groups like the Mount Rushmore Society. The goal is to match $100 million annually to culminate with the centennial of the National Park Service in 2016.
The Friends Alliance, a consortium of NPS non-profit fundraising organizations, has worked closely with the National Park Conservation Association and National Park Service to be strong advocates for this and future Centennial Challenge bills. Executive Director Diana Saathoff currently serves as secretary of the Friends Alliance.
Connector Trail Update
As plans are underway to create a series of trails within Mount Rushmore by the National Park Service, there are additional trail projects aimed at linking existing Black Hills trails to the new trails. The vision is to link the Mickelson Trail, the Centennial Trail and the communities of Hill City and Keystone to Mount Rushmore. This connector trail would tie together hundreds of miles of existing recreational paths and open up the Black Hills to be explored like never before.
Society representatives Mike Derby and Diana Saathoff met with National Park staff, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks staff and US Forest Service representatives to review proposals for the connecting trail project. After presentations by three firms, the contract to complete the first phase of design and environmental assessment work was awarded to Pat Wyss and Associates, a Rapid City based landscaping architecture firm. Wyss and Associates has previously worked at Mount Rushmore and was the primary contractor for the Presidential Trail completed in 1998.
Wyss & Associates have conducted a study which resulted in four possible routes which will now undergo a public review and environmental assessment.
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