There were also lands totaling about 4,449 acres added to the national monument by the October 3 order; these lands included
“2,581.88 acres of public domain, 336.88 acres of purchased land, 981.79 acres of Soil Conservation Service land and 548.56 acres of private land.... The net result of the boundary adjustments was a loss of 26,993.23 acres of land in Badlands National Monument.”[218]
Even before the October 3 order was enacted there was already talk about further reduction of the area boundary. In a memorandum dated December 5, 1952, Director Wirth wrote to the Regional Director in charge of Badlands National Monument:
[Illustration: Figure 24 A PORTION OF SAGE CREEK BASIN
In 1953 over 25,000 acres were recommended by the NPS for deletion from this section of the national monument.[219] Later, studies revealed that the area should be retained. Today it is home for bison, deer, pronghorn, prairie dogs, and other animals. Sage Creek Primitive Campground is located in its northwest section.]
The basis for a final solution [of the boundary problem at Badlands National Monument] lies in a reassessment and restatement of Monument objectives and significance. If it is found, as appears likely, that our chief concern and purpose should be with the badlands formations, then the boundaries should be drawn accordingly, with due regard for badlands protection, interpretation and attendant development needs. If we are to retain some or all of the grasslands, we must have strong and valid justification for doing so and be prepared to disclose and defend what specific Monument purposes and uses they are to serve.[220]
In order to determine if the grasslands west of Pinnacles should be kept, the NPS contracted with a number of prominent scientists to make studies of the area in 1953. Dr. Theodore E. White, a paleontologist with the Smithsonian Institution, determined in June 1953 whether or not potentially fossiliferous areas would be excluded by proposed boundary readjustments.[221] Late that summer archeological investigations were undertaken by Archeologist Paul L. Beaubien of the NPS Regional Office in Omaha, Nebraska. He recorded some 30 prehistoric Indian sites and one historic Indian site believed to have been used by Chief Big Foot’s band a few days before the infamous battle at Wounded Knee in December 1890.[222]