 Title: A broken
heartland |
(Glasser, 2001)
Glasser, J. (2001, May 7). A broken heartland. US News and World Report. Retrieved January 30, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://nl11.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_hidethis=yes&p_product=UW&p_theme=uw&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=20010507001158&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=("20010507001158")&p_perpage=20&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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A
farmhouse sits abandoned in Divide County, N.D. While the nation as a
whole grew by about 13 percent in the 1990s, nearly 60 percent of the
counties on the Great Plains lost population, according to a U.S. News
analysis of the new census data.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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An
auction takes place in Crosby, N.D., for a farmer who has decided to get
out of the business. Because of the increasing number of farmers retiring
or leaving the industry, several auctions are held each week throughout
the spring in the northwest corner of the state.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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A horse
stands near an abandoned home in Wild Rose, N.D.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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A man
sits alone at Cain's Bar in Wild Rose, N.D.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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A woman
lights a cigarette in a bar in Noonan, N.D. With little industry in the
area, employment prospects are bleak.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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A rusty
stop sign stands where a highway once ran through the town of Ambrose,
N.D. Divide County and its neighbor, Burke County, are littered with
dozens of virtual ghost towns that grew up as stops for steam trains and
died along with the railroads.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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An
abandoned car sits near an abandoned home in Burke County, N.D.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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A book
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture sits in the rubble of an abandoned
building in Burke County, N.D. Because of a dwindling farm economy over
the last 30 years, 42 percent of Midwestern farmers earn less than $20,000
annually. Without government intervention, 10 percent of farmers could not
survive one year, says former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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A
prairie church in Divide County, N.D.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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A woman
reads her Bible during mass at a Catholic church in Noonan, N.D. The lack
of job opportunities in the area has forced many young people to move
away, leaving an aging population.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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Todd
Erickson prepares a calf to be tagged and vaccinated on a farm near
Columbus, N.D.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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Men
gather for an auction on the land of a retiring farmer in Powers Lake,
N.D. The farmer, in his 80s, has no remaining family members in the area
to take over operation of the land.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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Men
play cards at the Diz Muz B D Plaz Cafe in Columbus, N.D. Columbus, which
had 20 businesses in 1972, today boasts only one restaurant and one
implement supplier. Both businesses are set to close later this year.
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| by David Butow–Corbis Saba for USN&WR |
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Downtown Ambrose, located in Divide County, N.D. Over the past 10 years,
the population of Divide County shrank by 21 percent, from 2,899 to 2,283.
By contrast, Cass County, where the state's largest city–Fargo–is located,
grew by 19.7 percent
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