Has the rate of forest fires in the SD Black Hills increased?

The Black Hills in South Dakota have had more significant forest fires since 2000 than the previous 90 years combined.

According to the National Forest Service, there have been almost 60 fires of more than 100 acres from 2000-2024 in the South Dakota portion of the Black Hills, including the largest in recorded history. Meanwhile, there were 50 between 1910 and 2000.

The two largest fires since 1910 have both been in the past 25 years. The Jasper Fire, which burned 90% of the Jewel Cave National Monument, ignited 83,508 acres in 2000 at a peak pace of seven football fields per minute. The Legion Lake fire, which started in Custer State Park, burned 53,895 acres in 2017.

The largest fire in South Dakota history wasn’t in the Black Hills. In 1947, a fire that started with a discarded cigarette burned 250,000 acres in Hand, Hughes, Hyde and Potter counties.