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ries about the fire hazards posed by the dead trees, the costs associated with picking them up from the roadways and the negative effect the spotty hillsides could have on property values.
• "If we are really, truly serious about removing the cancer that's growing in this area, you don't leave any parts of the cancer left on the landscape," Coburn said.
• Because beetles are poor fliers and rely on wind to help them move, the best way to slow the infestation is by taking down the infected trees. Dense, overgrown forests strengthen the epidemic and they enable beetles to release a concentrated attractant that draws hundreds more beetles to the tree. The inspects burrow beneath the bark, endlessly chewing and releasing the fungus until the tree is corrupted from the inside out and dies, eventually falling to the ground.

• Dave Ventimiglia, who co-founded the Lakota Logging Project, said the nearby Native American community can benefit in return. He hopes to eventually raise the $150,000 it would cost to build a saw mill on Pine Ridge reservation. That would allow loggers to bring back logs to the reservation and hopefully replace the dilapidated mobile homes in which so many of its residents live.
• A contract with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department

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