KNBN NewsCenter1
January 12, 2021
CUSTER, S.D. The 8th annual ‘Burning Beetle’ event will take place this weekend in Custer with some help from the Custer Volunteer Fire Department. Each year, a beetle is constructed and then burned on Pageant Hill. The event was created to help the Custer community and the Black Hills come to grips with the mountain pine beetle pandemic.
When the mountain pine beetle epidemic hit the Black Hills, the community was devastated. But the town of Custer came together and decided to instead celebrate and raise awareness on how to protect the forest.
Hank Fridell, Coordinator for Burning Beetle, said, “The mountain pine beetle reminded us all of our connection to the forest. This is the environment we live in, many of us are land owners, we’ve got trees and we want to be able to protect those trees. To remind ourselves that we need to be vigilant, not only about epidemics that happen, but also pandemics. We need to pay attention and stay toge