The Black Hills National Forest grows the Ponderosa Pine that surrounds you very well. There is an active timber program to harvest the trees for lumber and other purposes. You can find out about that on the forest website. What the website will not be so clear about is there are other forces that “harvest” timber here. You are surrounded by evidence of one of them.
The Black Hills has periodic outbreaks of Mountain Pine Beetle that kill trees in large areas. The adult beetles burrow into the trees in the summer and travel up the tree laying eggs. The eggs hatch and feed on the tree in a horizontal direction effectively stopping the pitch from flowing up and down the tree killing the tree. The next summer the adult beetles emerge and attach a new set of trees. If you are interested in more detail on the life cycle of these fascinating bugs, there are some books available. The best one I saw was a child’s book available in Custer State Park stores with very detailed narrative and excellent pictures. It even described how the beetle has ability to live through extreme cold by its fluids having like anti-freeze properties.
The dead trees littering this area are a result of such an outbreak in the early 2000s. The dead trees decay and break off at random heights. The trunks fall haphazardly to the ground and create a “pick-up-sticks” appearance on the ground. Walking through these downed trees can be hazardous so go slow and watch your footing getting to this cache. The container is a mixed nut jar that is hidden under some bark on the high point near the edge of the rock formation.