(1) to transfer to the Soil Conservation Service NPS lands outside the existing national monument boundary in order to compensate for 1,220 acres the SCS had turned over for inclusion in the national monument prior to its establishment in 1939;
(2) to transfer to the SCS equivalent lands (computed on a livestock-carrying-capacity basis) for lands that were to be acquired from the SCS by the NPS as the result of revised boundary studies;
(3) to transfer to the SCS federal lands which the NPS planned to eliminate from the national monument to use in exchange for non-federal lands remaining in the national monument after the boundary changes were made.[198]
The plan made it possible to transfer, without legislation, 3,678.19 acres of NPS lands lying outside the park boundary to the SCS. This was done by order of the Secretary of the Interior in July 1949.[199] These lands were acquired under the Resettlement Administration program and, in 1936 were transferred to the NPS. When Badlands National Monument was established in 1939, these lands were not within the boundary.[200]
In order to carry out the main objectives of the plan, Congressional action was necessary. In 1950 bills (H.R. 7342 and S. 3081) were introduced in the 81st Congress by Representative Case and Senator Chandler Gurney to implement the proposed land exchange. H.R. 7342 was passed by the House without amendment, but later the bill died in the Senate. The senate bill (S. 3081) was not considered.
In 1951 Senator Francis H. Case, who had just been elected to that office, and Congressman E.Y. Berry introduced identical bills (S. 896 and HR. 3540) in the 82nd Congress. These were similar to the ones proposed a year earlier. Berry’s bill passed the House on July 2, 1951, without amendment. The House Act was referred to the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, which recommended that section five of H.R. 3540 be dropped. This section would have provided authority to include 4,000 acres of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the Sheep Mountain area provided certain conditions were met. The committee believed “that a satisfactory solution should be worked out with the Tribal Council of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of Indians, and any others interested, before legislation with regard to these lands is enacted.”[201] The bill in its amended form, including another minor change recommended by the committee, passed the Senate on January 24, 1952.[202]
Figure 23 AREA CHANGES IN BADLANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT[203]
| Area authorized in 1929 (dashed line) | 50,830.40 acres |
| Area upon establishment in 1939 | 154,119.46 acres |
| Area after changes of 1952 | 122,642.52 acres |
| Area after changes of 1957 (heavy line) | 111,529.82 acres |
Acreage figures are latest available and may be different from figures which were current during each of the four times the park boundary has been redesignated. Because of these acreage revisions, additions to and deletions from the park do not total correctly.
| Badlands National Monument | |
|---|---|
| South Dakota | |
| One section (1 mile square—640 acres) | |
| Eliminated in 1952 | 31,442.52 acres |
| Added in 1952 | 4,449.29 acres |
| Eliminated in 1957 | 11,234.09 acres |
| Added in 1957 | 241.39 acres |
Shortly afterwards on February 8, telegrams were sent to Congressmen Berry, Senator Case, and Senator Karl Mundt by the executive committee of the tribal council of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The messages urged the congressmen to do their best to get Section 5 restored so it would be possible for the tribe to negotiate with the federal government for exchange of the land in the Sheep Mountain area for other lands.[204] The House, however, did not heed this resolution but voted instead to concur with the Senate’s amended version. The bill became Public Law 328 after being signed by President Harry S Truman on May 7, 1952.[205]