Firefighters torch plants in tight quarters

Fire returned to Trinity Eco Prayer Park for the second time in three years when the Rapid City Fire Department conducted a prescribed burn in April. In nature fire helps create healthy soil by restoring nutrients and decreasing dead plant matter.

When the park was built the plan was for the Fire Department to do a burn every three years. But the above average moisture that fell over the past two years caused them to return a year ahead of schedule due to an overabundance of dead plant material.

The burn in the park is a precision operation in tight quarters. Firefighters use spray from hoses and create fuel-free buffers to protect shrubs and trees and to keep the fire from spreading to nearby properties.

Ever since the park’s grand opening celebration on a scorching hot day in June 2016, it was obvious the park could some shade in the central lawn area. Over the course of a week in May, two people expressed the desire to make memorial donations to have trees planted in the park.

Adding new trees had to take into consideration the park’s design above and below ground. Since most of the park’s electricity is generated by solar panels throughout the park, siting of any tree had to anticipate where a tree’s shadow would cast not only now, but in decades to come. Another concern is the park’s drainfield that was installed 18 inches below the central lawn. Planting trees also had to avoid the main water line coming into the park and the lawn’s underground sprinkler system.

Park designer Eirik Heikes helped identify planting locations. Two box elder trees were planted on June 11, the fourth anniversary of that blistering day when the park celebrated its opening with music and inspirational speakers.

The newest of the City of Presidents statues arrived at the entrance to Trinity Eco Prayer Park. The placement of Barak Obama’s likeness near the park is fitting because as president Obama demonstrated a commitment to parks and the planet.

He helped preserve over 260 million acres of public lands and water by creating over 20 national monuments, more than any other president in U.S. history. He also established America's Great Outdoors Initiative, which served to engage young people in conservation and the great outdoors, and establish urban parks and community green spaces.

The American Horticultural Society (AHS), one of the most respected and longstanding gardening organizations in the nation, accepted Trinity Eco Prayer Park (TEPP) as a member in its Reciprocal Admissions Program. TEPP joins over 330 gardens, parks and preserves found in all 50 states. Being an AHS member garden means that Trinity Eco Prayer Park is listed in the AHS garden directory (www.ahsgardening.org/gardening-programs/rap), which it refers to as “Your Passport to Public Gardens Across North America.”

Trinity Eco Prayer Park established a Park Endowment Fund after receiving a memorial donation of $5,000. All gifts to the new fund will be held and invested by the Trinity Lutheran Church Foundation with any dividends, interest or other income going to help cover the park’s operating expenses. Since the initial amount of the gift is never spent the gift continues to benefit the park for years to come. Individuals interested in making a gift to the Park Endowment Fund should contact Park Director Ken Steinken at 605-348-4895 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Local contractors donate services

West Dakota Water Development District and a group of Rapid City area businesses are funding the upgrades recommended by Andrea Vargas and a team of South Dakota Mines students at Trinity Eco Prayer Park. The upgrades will increase the water flow capacity and provide easier maintenance at the park. This will enhance the original intent of the park to slow, spread, infiltrate, and naturally filter stormwater that runs off parking lots, alley and walks before it enters Rapid Creek. The project also creates opportunity for a living laboratory where future students can study urban runoff, associated water quality issues, and sustainable stormwater management practices. Public-private partnerships paved the way for this project with funding and donations from a number of entities. West Dakota Water Development District granted $24,500 for the $66,010 project. Other partners include $5,000 donation from TerraSite Design and $3,000 from RCS Construction with in-kind services donated by Doyle Concrete ($3,000), Hanson Mapping and Survey ($2,000), and Pike at Play Excavation, which is doing demo and dirt work at cost.

After five years with no on-site indication of the what the park is called, Trinity Eco Prayer Park now has a sign proudly proclaiming its name. Rosenbaum’s Signs made and installed the sign, which displays the stylish park logo near the corner of 4^th and St. Joseph Streets. It also declares the park’s goal to be “a place to reflect on how we relate to God, one another and the planet.”

Andrea Vargas, a South Dakota Mines student from Colombia, began conducting a study at the park and several other Rapid City locations that focused on developing a method to measure ecosystem benefits of green stormwater treatment sites. The study monitored the presence of bees and other pollinators as an indicator of the site’s environmental health.

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Top: Rapid City Fire Department burns park grasses in the spring.
Middle: Park collects, filters and absorbs stormwater during summer downpour.
Bottom: SD Mines student conducts pollinator research in park.