Mount Rushmore climbers to monitor and seal cracks annually. Due to budget constraints, the memorial is not regularly cleaned to remove lichens. However, on July 8, 2005, Alfred Kärcher GmbH, a German manufacturer of pressure washing and steam cleaning machines, conducted a free cleanup operation which lasted several weeks, using pressurized water at over . The flora and fauna of Mount Rushmore are similar to those of the rest of the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Birds including the turkey vulture, bald eagle, hawk, and meadowlark fly around Mount Rushmore, occasionally making nesting spots in the ledges of the mountain. Smaller
Rushmore University consider degrees from this supplier to be substandard unless each degree program is evaluated in detail by an external evaluator acceptable to ODA. The Maine Department of Education and State of Michigan also list Rushmore as non-accredited. In August 2009, Rushmore announced that it was seeking accreditation from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). This was announced in the August 2009 Rushmore newsletter. The Rushmore June 2012 newsletter reported that in April 2012 Rushmore had obtained CMI Recognised Center status, including approval for several Rushmore programs. Rushmore University Rushmore University is an unaccredited institution of higher learning offering master's and doctoral