Ellsworth, Oglala Sioux Tribe sign tribal consultation plan

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Eric Bolt
  • 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. --  The 28th Bomb Wing and the Oglala Sioux Tribe met for a Tribal Consultation Plan signing ceremony June 26 in the White River Visitor's Center. 

Col. Scott Vander Hamm, 28 BW commander, and John Yellow Bird-Steele, Oglala Sioux Tribe president, were both in attendance to sign the document. 

"The purpose of this document is to develop a consultation relationship and operational protocols between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the U.S. Air Force for the clean-up of the Air Force Retained Area of the Badlands Bombing Range," Colonel Vander Hamm said. 

The Badlands Bomb Range Air Force Retained Area is a 2486-acre Air Force Environmental Restoration Program site approximately 55 miles southeast of Ellsworth on the Oglala Sioux Tribe's Pine Ridge Reservation. 

The U.S. War Department established this bombing range in 1942 by for use as a World War II bombing and aerial gunnery range. 

"The goal of the Tribal Consultation Plan is to clean up the Air Force Retained Area to make it safe for reuse, to protect human life and the environment in the process, and to facilitate the return of the land in consultation with the Oglala Sioux Tribe," Colonel Vander Hamm said.