WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2016
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 118 NO. 41 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: Osceola soccer team continues to roll. PAGE 12
Loss, revival and corn An Osceola farmer connects the dots on international trade policies BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
There are plenty of differences between farming in Mexico and the United States. But there are also some uncanny similarities. At different times, farmers in both nations have watched, seemingly helpless, as the dominant method of agriculture changed from small, family or community run farms to large, industrialized ones. And in both countries, over time, small groups of people have returned to traditional farming techniques, reclaiming their livelihoods and offering their communities ac-
SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
Sean Burrows stands by one of three kiosks he built for Standing Cedars Community Land Conservancy as his Eagle Scout project. The kiosks are stationed at the Buffalo Skull, Tewksbury and Brown trailheads.
Scout’s honor Eagle Scout project benefits Standing Cedars BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Visitors to Standing Cedars Community Land Conservancy will likely notice new, artfully rustic kiosks with posts that, though milled and smoothed, still suggest the shape of the red cedar from which they were crafted. Sean Burrows, 14, built the three kiosks from scratch as his Eagle Scout project. He finished installation March 29, and a kiosk now sits at the trailheads for Buffalo Skull, Tewksbury and the land conservan-
cess to local food. Chris Burkhouse of Foxtail Farm in Osceola has been part of that movement in the U.S. since 1989. And on a recent trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, she saw the parallels between her path and that of Mexican farmers. “Some of what’s happening there is similar to what happened here,” she explained after returning from the March trip, which was organized through the Land Stewardship Project and Witness for Peace. A bit of background: When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was instituted in 1994, the U.S. shipped loads of corn to Mexico. Because American farmers received subsidies for their corn – more than $10 billion a year industry wide – they could sell it for less SEE FARMER, PAGE 6
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A Oaxacan farmer, Roman, explains corn planting and hilling at Espacio Kruz, March 11.
Neighbors weary of off-road rally
cy’s newest standalone property, Brown. Burrows, who is finishing ninth grade at Osceola High School, credits his grandfather, Dick Burrows, a member of the Standing Cedars board, with suggesting the project idea. “He said Standing Cedars needed a pole shed or kiosks,” said Burrows. “So I started with that and came up with ideas for the kiosks.” For a design pattern, Burrows used the organization’s lone existing kiosk, which sits at the Engelwood trailhead and was primarily built by his grandfather. Last November, with help from his father, Don
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Neighbors of Trollhaugen Outdoor Recreation Area said last week that they’d had enough of the Memorial Total Off-Road Rally, an event organized by the Minnesota Go 4 Wheelers. The nonprofit four-wheel drive club has held the event at the site for 37 years. But people living near the campground where the rally is held say event goers have begun to push boundaries. The trucks and music have become excessively loud and go late into the night, neighbors said. One household complained of property damage, saying rally
SEE SCOUT, PAGE 24
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A four-wheeler at the Memorial Total Off-Road Rally, in a still from a promotional video for the event.
SEE RALLY, PAGE 2
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