PIERRE, S.D. – The S.D. Parks and Wildlife Foundation recently announced a $2 million gift from the Robert and Rita Elmen Foundation designated to “provide quality enhancements to create a world class visitor center and theater for Good Earth State Park.”

“The Native American history was what initially grabbed our attention,” said Robert Elmen. “I researched what other sites with so many mounds and artifacts had done to interpret history for visitors. I found that a state-of-the-art visitor center that would do justice to Good Earth would cost more than the State of South Dakota anticipated. This gift to the Foundation will make it possible to properly interpret the centuries of culture reflected at Good Earth.”

Because the gift will be completed over a period of 25 years, the Department of Game, Fish and Parks has introduced House Bill 1013 to authorize the South Dakota Building Authority to seek bond financing to utilize this gift for construction of a visitor center and associated interpretive displays at Good Earth State Park at Blood Run.

“Bob and Rita Elmen’s magnificent generosity will dramatically impact our ability to showcase one of America’s and South Dakota’s great places,” said Jeff Scherschligt, past president of the S.D. Parks and Wildlife Foundation. Scherschligt emphasized, however, “We are getting closer to our fundraising goal, but we are not done. To complete other aspects of the visitor center, an access road, exhibits, interpretive sites and trails, the S.D. Parks and Wildlife must still raise another $1.2 million in private funds.”

Good Earth State Park is part of Blood Run National Historic Landmark located southeast of Sioux Falls, S.D. The landmark is comprised of several thousand acres on both sides of the Big Sioux River in South Dakota and Iowa. Ancestors of the Omaha and Iowa tribes established villages at Blood Run in the late 1400s. From at least AD 1600 to 1700, this tribal community supported a population as high as 6,000 and served as a vibrant exchange center, drawing trade from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Coast.

Good Earth State Park at Blood Run was dedicated on July 19, 2013. At the dedication, Gov. Daugaard praised the results of a public/private partnership to move the state toward a fully functioning 13th state park and preserving forever this unique historic site.

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