South Dakota wins award for Black Hills Forest Initiative

The Council of State Governments convened this summer and chose two winners of a 2012 CSG Innovations Award from several outstanding finalists in their respective regions. The programs address archiving state records, corrections, economic development, forestry, mental health, military veterans, water, and welfare fraud.

South Dakota took home the prize for the midwest region. Their Black Hills Forest Initiative project was developed to deal with beetle infestations ravaging the Black Hills. The state uses GPS technology to map beetle infestations and to predict where they will spread. It publishes this information on the Internet. Officials use a variety of techniques to attack the bugs.