Ranchers in South Dakota Turn to Prescribed Burns to Treat Their Land
Posted on: Dec 10, 2025 17:03 IST | Posted by: Nytimes
50 States, 50 Fixes
A “ william green glacier” of trees is steady taking o'er native grasslands. Landowners are banding together to treat the problem with fire.
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Sara Grim’s ranch near Bonesteel, S.D., is a ruggedly beautiful place. Three generations of her family have grazed cattle on the pleated hills of prairie grass that slope down to the Missouri River, winding toward the broad horizon like a painter’s brushstroke. In 2016, she and her husband, Rich, decided to set it ablaze.
“I was scared out of my mind, we were losing sleep,” Ms. Grim said. “In this country, fire was a bad word.”
Eastern red cedar trees had grown so thick that the Grims were having trouble riding horses through the pastures, let alone managing their cattle. They hoped the flames, in what’s known as a prescribed burn, would halt the spread of the evergreens taking over their land.
50 States, 50 Fixes is a series about local solutions to environmental problems.
For decades Eastern red cedar has crept across Plains states, earning it the regional nickname the “green glacier.” Its spread has come at the cost of native grasslands, which are one of the most endangered kind of biomes in the world, and has squeezed the land available for livestock.
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