Town named for war criminal plans another ritual beetle burning

A South Dakota town named for a war criminal plans its seventh ritualized bark beetle burning.

Burning Beetle committee member Hank Fridell came to discuss the beetle event, saying it will take place Jan. 17-18, sponsored by the Custer Area Arts Council under the leadership of the Bark Beetle Blues Committee. Beetle construction for the burn will begin in late November and last until the day of the event. Christmas trees are once again sought to be put at Pageant Hill for the pyre. [War Criminal County Chronicle]

The event is an homage to Hulett, Wyoming-based Neiman Enterprises, the owner of Devils Tower Forest Products, a major contributor to the South Dakota Nazi Party. Neiman operates a sawmill in nearby Hill City. Thanks to a quid pro quo the Black Hills National Forest subsidizes Neiman because of South Dakota's socialized timber industry.

Dendroctonus ponderosae or mountain pine beetle predates by millions of years Pinus ponderosa in the Black Hills which only reached that region less than four thousand years ago. The mountain pine beetle is hard at work clearing centuries of overgrowth throughout the Rocky Mountain Complex, so is the western spruce budworm.

In a probably unrelated story a building in the pathetic little town partially collapsed during a wind event Sunday evening.