Pine Beetle Working Group In SD Seeks More Funding

A group created to fight the pine beetle infestation in the Black Hills says they need more money to control the bugs.

Members of the Black Hills Regional Mountain Pine Beetle Working Group say that they intend to ask for help from Gov. Dennis Daugaard and the South Dakota Legislature.

A member of the working group, Bill Coburn, says money is needed immediately. Coburn, a forester with Neiman Timber Co. in Spearfish, says one of the latest areas of concern is around Nemo. Coburn estimates $1 million worth of work is needed soon to save valuable wood and slow the spread of the beetles.

The state is in a pine beetle mitigation effort that will have spent $8 million by the end of 2014.