While South Dakota is well known for its endless prairies and clear skies, the state is facing an air quality crisis with the rest of the Upper Great Plains. While we may not have the smog of the Los Angeles or New York skylines, we are increasingly at the mercy of particulate matter that is often invisible to the naked eye. As we continue to see regulations dismantled on the national level, this may very well be just the beginning.
Wildfires: The new norm
For the past two years, South Dakotans have become accustomed to Canadian and Western wildfire smoke. In August 2025, the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) issued widespread air quality alerts as fine particulate matter (PM2.5) spiked to dangerous levels across the state.
These microscopic particles aren’t just a nuisance, obscuring our views of Sylvan Lake; they are a public health issue. PM2.5 is small enough to enter the bloodstream, aggravating asthma, COPD, and heart disease. For a state that already struggles with high radon levels, due to high mineral deposits and uranium in the Black Hills, adding a seasonal blanket of smoke is a recipe for a long-term respiratory crisis.
The dust beneath our feet
For South Dakotans familiar with our history of the “Dustbowl”, it should come as no surprise that smoke isn’t our only concern. Our landscape contributes to its own pollution, known as PM10. High winds and dry soil conditions often push cities like Rapid City, Aberdeen, and Watertown into the unhealthy range as the topsoil becomes airborne.
While the state does monitor these levels, there are currently no regulations governing the dust and soil from agriculture and gravel roads or the odors of industrial operations. Basically, if you can see it on your windshield or smell it in the air, it’s a local problem, not a legal one. This leaves rural communities vulnerable to the effects of agriculture and mining for the sake of a stronger economy.
The way forward
While we can’t control when a forest burns in Saskatchewan, we can control how we monitor and regulate the air we share. South Dakota currently only operates ten PM2.5 monitoring sites. For a state that spans approximately 77,000 square miles, that’s like trying to monitor the temperature of a Capitol building with a single thermometer in the front entry. We need to consider expanding the monitoring network with air quality data in more of our counties, regardless of the population density. In addition to increased monitoring, strengthening statewide regulations on odors and even agricultural dust would help alleviate air quality conditions without putting the responsibility solely on local communities. The air we breathe should not be a secondary concern, and continuing to favor deregulation over data will leave us out of breath in the future.
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