Friday,  Aug. 23, 2013 • Vol. 15--No. 39 • 23 of 34

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• Daugaard said the effort is aimed at slowing the epidemic that kills trees.
• "We have not yet 'beat the beetles,' but we will continue working to protect the Black Hills," the governor said in a written statement.
• Landowners can sign up through Sept. 13 for the 2013-2014 season of surveying and marking infested trees. After crews identify and mark infested trees, landowners are responsible for treating infested trees. But the state also has a cost sharing program that has involved nearly 1,900 landowners so far.
• Treatment techniques include removing infested trees for use by sawmills and cutting the trees into chunks
• State Forester Ray Sowers said crews are becoming skilled at identifying and treating infested trees, and years of treatment have resulted in fewer infested trees in Custer State Park. Crews treated more than 100,000 trees in the park in 2010-2011, but only 35,000 in the 2012-2013 cutting season, he said.
• "It's clear that our efforts have been successful in the park," Sowers said. "But there is still a lot of work to do on private lands. We're not out of this yet."
• Information on the program is available at www.BeatTheBeetles.com .
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Ellsworth flights resuming 3 days after B-1B crash
DIRK LAMMERS, Associated Press

• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Flights were resuming out of Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota on Thursday, three days after a B-1B bomber crashed in a remote area of southeastern Montana, an Air Force official said.
• Two pilots and two weapons system officers safely ejected Monday morning before the South Dakota-based bomber crashed near Broadus, Mont.
• Col. Kevin Kennedy, commander of the 28th Bomb Wing, said the base temporarily shut down flights until maintenance and operations group commanders could ensure Kennedy that it was safe to resume normal flying operations. Kennedy said he made the decision Thursday that flights would recommence that day.
• Col. Brooks McFarland, commander of the 28th Maintenance Group, said the cause of the crash remains under investigation. He said crews at Ellsworth have carefully inspected all of the B-1Bs for airworthiness before releasing them to fly.
• "B-1s have continued their missions elsewhere, and I have been in contact with the maintenance leadership of those units," McFarland said in a statement. "With no evidence of fleet-wide problems, it is important that we resume flying and keep proficient at our primary mission."

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