Starting a Badlands Conservation Corps (BCC) is a positive direction for the state of North Dakota.

From May to July, 2025, the six-person BCC field crew provided approximately 1,800 hours of service. Working alongside 13 project partners, BCC maintained 40 miles of trails, removed 4.75 miles of fencing, installed or repaired 30 mile markers and other posts, placed eight benches, and reinforced two erosion-preventing bridges.

My first two years as your Executive Director have paid dividends through relationship building. This was evident in our BCC field crew and how well it has been received. My goal for the next 25 years, BCA will serve as both ‘watchdog,’ and a ‘boots on the ground solution’ to improve western ND for future generations.

Ben Rawlence, a British writer and journalist, has researched and compiled a fascinating look at the seven major trees in six ecosystems of the northernmost forest, the treeline forest.