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
Mount Tom State Park Mount Tom State Park Mount Tom State Park is a public recreation area lying south of US Route 202 in the towns of Washington, Litchfield, and Morris, Connecticut. The state park occupies on the southwest shore of Mount Tom Pond and is home to the Mount Tom Tower, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. It is managed by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The park is one of the oldest in the Connecticut state park system, having been among the 15 created between 1913 and 1918 by Connecticut's first State Park