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Black Hills drilling project canceled after backlash from tribes

A South Dakota mining company has canceled a drilling project in the Black Hills after opposition from Native American tribes and local groups.

In a letter provided Friday by Indigenous advocacy group NDN Collective, Rapid City-based Pete Lien & Sons told the United States Forest Service on Thursday it is withdrawing its plan of operations for a graphite drilling project. It doesn’t intend to file another plan for this project, the letter said.

Groups opposed the project because of its proximity to a sacred site called Pe’Sla, a meadow in the Black Hills where Sioux tribes hold ceremonies and pray throughout the year. The land is also used for buffalo grazing.

The Forest Service and Pete Lien & Sons did not immediately return requests for comment Friday afternoon.

Nine tribes in South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service over the project alleging violations of the National Historical Preservation Act and National Environmental Protection Act for granting permits without an environmental review.

There also was a lawsuit filed by NDN Collective and environmental groups that argued the Forest Service should not have exempted the project from an environmental review because it did not meet the requirements for a categorical exclusion. In that case, a temporary restraining order granted against Pete Lien & Sons on Monday prohibited the drilling operation for two weeks.

In a statement, NDN Collective said “today’s win is multi-faceted and offers a blueprint for future land defense fights.”

The Black Hills, named for the appearance of the pine and spruce-covered rolling hills, is home to attractions like Mount Rushmore and state parks, but it has long been the site of tension between mining interests and tribes, who consider the area unceded territory.

The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie established that the Black Hills belong to Sioux tribes, but the U.S. government seized the land years later after the discovery of gold. The Supreme Court later ruled the tribes were owed compensation, but they have not accepted it and maintain their claim to the land.

Grandfather recovering from surgery after bison attack at Yellowstone sent him flying

By WTOP Staff
(CNN) — What started as a yearly trip for a grandfather and his grandson turned into a visit to a Montana hospital after a bison attack at Yellowstone National Park.Carl McDaniel, 65, was hospitalized with a broken femur after a bison charged and tossed him into the air Friday evening at the park’s Bridge Bay Campground, according to McDaniel and the National Park Service.He was visiting the park with his 13-year-old grandson when they decided to take a walk after dinner.Along the way, they encountered a large bison that appeared to be rolling around in the dust and was not bothering anyone, McDaniel told CNN.“We were about a hundred yards away,” McDaniel said. “He was not aggressive; he was not having problems and we took some pictures and decided to walk on.”McDaniel and his grandson snapped a quick photo and continued with their walk, video of the encounter shows. At the same time, a truck drove by, and the driver laid on his horn in what appeared to be an attempt to get the bison to move, McDaniel said. There is no audio on the video.The bison then appeared to become agitated and began running toward the pair.“There was little time to decide what to do. At that point, he was within 100 yards; he could be to us in seconds, so I told my grandson to run in one direction and I went the other to try and draw him away,” McDaniel said.The animal then pushed McDaniel with the top of its head, sending him flying into the air before he hit the ground, the grandfather said.“When I was on the ground immobile, unable to move, he was right on top of me. He could have stomped on me, he could have gored me, he could have done almost anything to take my life, and he did not do so,” McDaniel said.After McDaniel hit the ground, photographer Mike MacLeod, who captured the encounter on video, had to step in, he told Cowboy State Daily.“I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” MacLeod said.After the bison took off, people rushed over to McDaniel, who was in a lot of pain, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. Yellowstone EMS arrived soon after, he said.“Park emergency medical personnel responded and transported him to a nearby hospital,” the National Park Service said in confirming the incident in a statement to CNN.This is the second bison attack at Yellowstone this year. A 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano on June 26, according to the agency.After Friday’s attack, “all the people that were there were amazing; they were all positive, they were trying to help as best they could,” McDaniel said. A nurse started tending to his leg, while another bystander held his head.He was then transferred to a hospital in Bozeman, a two-hour journey during which he was in intense pain. He said he was grateful for the paramedic who helped him along the way.McDaniel broke his femur, the body’s strongest bone, in four places near his hip and suffered several bruises. He had surgery Sunday and could stand by Monday.“I will be doing physical therapy for the next few days to get to walk, but it was not as catastrophic as it could have been,” McDaniel said.The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison at all times and to never approach the animals. “If the bison follows you, spray bear spray as you are moving away, and seek cover behind nearby trees or cars,” the agency said.Correction: An earlier version of this story understated how far visitors should stay away from bison. The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards from them.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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