Visiting Bee Cities and Campuses is one of my favorite things about my work. Last month, I visited beautiful western South Dakota and was lucky to connect with five affiliates in that state. I presented at the South Dakota Parks & Recreation Association’s annual conference, which was hosted by Spearfish Parks, Recreation & Forestry Department, who made my attendance possible—thank you! At the conference I got to meet parks staff from all three South Dakota Bee Cities—Spearfish, Rapid City, and Brookings—and afterward got to tour Spearfish and Rapid City, as well as visit two campus affiliates in the Black Hills area, Black Hills State University and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
What an excellent trip it was! There are so many ways to approach pollinator protection, and I saw a great variety in South Dakota, ranging from a community food forest to bioswales to natural areas. These visits also give us all a chance to learn from each other. I hope you find my recap informative and useful for work in your own community.
There is so much to share that it is split into two blogs. In the first blog I cover the two Bee Cities, Spearfish and Rapid City. In this second blog, I’m covering the two Bee Campuses, Black Hills State University and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
I appreciate all the parks staff, students, and community leaders met up with me and shared their inspiring work.
Enjoy the tour!
Laura Rost
National Coordinator
Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA
Black Hills State University
At Black Hills State University (BHSU) in Spearfish, I met up with Debbie Liddick, the Assistant Director of Facilities and Sustainability, Rhyse Naylor, the Grounds Supervisor, and Taryn Davis, Graduate Assistant for the Office of Sustainability. BHSU has been a Bee Campus since 2019 and are re-activating some of their Bee Campus efforts.
Debbie shared the university’s Landscape Management Plan for the 126-acre campus. The campus is divided into different zones of management intensity, rated A through D, with more visited (and visible) areas primarily being the areas with the highest management and inputs. Over time, they plan to add more native plants to prominent areas of campus, which would likely need less management.
Taryn shared information on the school’s pollinator conservation outreach work, which included tabling at Downtown Friday Nights where they promoted pollinators and gave away pollinator seeds and produce from the community garden. They also conducted a native plant sale. The campus bookstore sells “Bee Adventurous” hats to raise awareness of their Bee Campus USA work.
Debbie, Rhyse, and Taryn took me on a tour of campus to see a variety of pollinator plantings. There is a herb garden, green roofs, bioswales with native plants along the parking lots, and a no-mow Native Landscape Area, where students conduct research. In areas of campus that are unirrigated, they use native grasses. There is an extensive new drainage project in the works, with will include native plants. once complete.
Rhyse showed how they have reduced herbicide use in various areas. On rock beds, they use flame-weeders, and landscape interns hand-weed thistles on a steep slope, which allowed them to avoid spraying herbicides.
Right next to campus apartments is a large campus garden (with very necessary deer fencing!) that still had late-season flowers blooming and squash—a crop that relies heavily on native pollinators. Although used for student research, the garden also has public community garden plots: Produce is shared with students and the public.
It was great to get a chance to talk about pesticide reduction strategies and learn about BHSU’s management plans for landscapes currently under construction throughout the campus.
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
At the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (aka South Dakota Mines) in Rapid City, I met with the Environmental Change and Sustainability Club’s officers Grace, Conner, and Bricelyn. South Dakota Mines is a newer affiliate, having joined last year, and the club oversees the Bee Campus efforts. The school is undergoing a lot of construction, so we focused on habitat planning and pesticide reduction strategies. New construction often comes with new landscaping opportunities, so that can be a good time to incorporate more native pollinator plants in more prominent areas of a campus.
As walked around the school, I saw volunteer milkweeds popping up around buildings. Milkweed not only hosts monarch butterfly caterpillars, but it is food for a whole variety of native pollinators, so it’s good to see the plant being allowed to grow and go to seed.
The south side of the campus backs up to a large, hilly natural area with a Living Laboratory for a variety of student research and the 3-mile long Rocker Trail spider-webbing over the hillside. Natural habitat like this really excellent to see. Not only can it be a great area for pollinators, but it can be effective for outreach, such as interpretive signs, where visitors and students can learn first-hand how their campus can support wildlife.
A warm thank you to Grace, Conner, and Bricelyn for taking the time to host me. I look forward to seeing their future projects!
