Governor Mike Rounds is pushing the legislature to help fund a project that will protect some land near Bear Butte State Park from private development.

The state along with Native American tribes own most of the land around Bear Butte, but a private family also owns a large swath that comes within 400 feet of the top of the butte.

Now the family is willing to provide a conservation easement on the land, meaning they would preserve and protect it from development but also continue to pay taxes on the land.

"My proposal keeps it on the tax rolls but at the same time protects the beauty of the mountain itself," Rounds says.