The Heating Crisis on Pine Ridge

Every year there are deaths by freezing on the reservation. Winters bring bitter cold and can reach -50 degrees below zero or worse. The vast majority of homes on the reservation are poorly insulated and many families do not have money for propane; thus firewood is the only way to keep warm during the frigid South Dakota winters.

Annually, each of the 9 districts on the reservation compile lists of households needing firewood. OLCERI prioritizes who they serve in this way: Elderly, handicapped, single-parent homes, then all else. There are about 20,000 Lakota permanently residing on the reservation; 40% are minors and elders (65+). One household typically needs 14 cords of wood per season. This is due to extremely poor quality of housing currently in general use. (Mobile homes built for southern states with minimal insulation.)

Our Solution:

In 2016 OLCERI built a sawmill onsite. Its original purpose was to reduce the cost of building model earth-bermed homes designed for use on the reservation. As winter came, we started getting requests for firewood – by the hundreds. Since then, OLCERI has been providing firewood annually to approximately 300 families on the western side of the reservation. 

OLCERI buys logs in bulk collectively with other groups which also produce firewood for families on the reservation. The logs are from insect- or fire- killed trees that are responsibly harvested from forests on the reservation. These forests are managed under a federal grant program which also sponsors annually replanting work. This ensures healthy, continued, and sustainable growth of the forests.

We train native program workers in the skills required to operate modern sophisticated wood processing equipment. These skills will be very useful for producing lumber for OLCERI reservation housing initiatives.

Current Needs

We are requesting a firewood processing attachment for a bobcat. This will greatly increase our ability to quickly processes large amounts of wood. If you would like to donate this equipment, contact us.

As of January 2023, OLCERI has 12 loads of firewood quality logs, which is the current capacity of what OLCERI is capable of processing and delivering per season. This can produce approximately 252 cords of wood which will meet the number of cords delivered in past years.

Currently the program can deliver wood to about 300 families, approximately 2400 people including 960 children and elders) at direct labor cost of approximately $87,000 per year.

With the current manual sawmill, splitting, and chainsaw equipment, 1 operator can produce approx 35 cords per day. This amount falls short of the amount needed per winter season. With new equipment, they can triple this production. One operator could produce 100 cords per day. Our goal is to reduce, by at least half (approximately $40,000), the annual cost to provide the same amount of firewood to the 300 households currently being served.