Professor F.W. Albertson of Fort Hays Kansas State College submitted a Report of Study of Grassland Areas of Badlands National Monument in September. In brief he said, “it seems to me that the Park Service has an extremely interesting area, which should be preserved for all interested public through the years to come.”[223]
Meanwhile, support grew for retention of the boundaries as spelled out by the October 3, 1952, secretarial order. The Rapid City Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, the South Dakota State Highway Commission, the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, the Black Hills and Badlands Association, and prominent local persons, including Sid Soma, Dr. G.W. Mills, Ted Hustead, and Leonel Jensen, all from the town of Wall, were but a few of the many who advocated retention of the present boundary.[224]
Although the South Dakota Stock Growers Association and some local ranching interests continued to advocate “the transfer of administration of all grazing lands within the monument not needed for road and development purposes,” it became evident to these people that opposition was building up against further acreage reduction in the park.[225]
In April 1954 the NPS recommended no boundary changes until the problem was explored further. Director Wirth said:
it seems apparent that there is a very considerable number of people ... which strongly support the retention of the Badlands National Monument not only as a striking example of geological formations, with areas of paleontological interest, but also for preservation of a segment of the plains grassland and native wildlife as added attractions. On the other hand, there is also a difficult problem of inholdings and grazing complications, with strong sentiment from the livestock owners for a reduction of the Monument.[226]
He recommended, among other things, that exchanges of private land inside the boundary for federal lands outside be pushed vigorously, and that Dr. Adolph Murie, NPS Biologist, should study the wildlife possibilities of the national monument.[227]
Badlands National Monument has national significance, first of all because it is a sample of the Badlands. The values of this monument are of outstanding significance in the fields of geology, paleontology, archeology, and biology. The eroded terrain has scenic value for many, and in Sage Creek Basin and in the section north of Cedar Pass one finds the atmosphere of the early scene, when this country was far beyond the frontier....