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Water Protectors Use Novel Legal Tactic to Challenge the Dakota Access Pipeline
Novel anti-SLAPP laws could help uncover Dakota Access Pipeline secrets
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Opinion
The Farm Bill Must Support Farmers Affected by PFAS Contaminated Sewage Sludge
Maine stepped up to protect its farmers. It’s time for Congress to protect farmers nationwide.
Rep. Bill Pluecker
Montana Tribal Citizens File Lawsuit Over Alleged Voter Suppression
Does GOP control of the U.S. Senate hinge on stopping Natives from voting in November?
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The 10 Rural Districts That Could Swing the House
Candidates in rural battleground congressional races are pivotal in deciding who controls the U.S. House
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The Christian Right’s Playbook to Elect Donald Trump in November
And how voters can use the tools of democracy to counter their plans
Science & Environment
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Project 2025 and Its Plans for the Nation’s Public Lands
Native leader says massive deregulation would lead to “total desecration”
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Signs of a Ceasefire in Michigan’s Energy Wars
Rural comunities have been fighting for nearly two decades over large-scale solar and wind farms. A new law might turn down the temperature as the state seeks to reduce carbon emissions from generating electricity.
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What’s Fueling Michigan’s Green Energy Backlash?
A renewable energy push is bringing millions of dollars to Michigan’s rural communities. But not everyone is pleased.
Politics & Policy
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The Dark Money Defunding Rural Schools
A network of right-wing billionaires have bankrolled a war against public education. Now they’re stepping up attacks on rural legislators—but communities are fighting back.
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In Chicago, Rural Democrats Feel the Joy. Will It Last?
At the DNC’s Rural Council, Democrats see a bright future in rural America—but past losses cast a long shadow
Special Reports
New
Charting a Path of Rural Progress
Interviews with the organizers who created a rural policy platform for 2024
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Rural Communities Respond to the Long-Term Care Crisis
Rural communities come together to respond to the crisis in long-term care
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Interviews with Rural Organizers
Meet the rural organizers and changemakers working for change and justice
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Rural Libraries
Rural libraries, under threat, are finding renewed purpose
More →Native Life
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The Indigenous Growers Reviving Hemp’s Deep Roots
“Cannabis and hemp offer solutions to many challenges in an industrial society”
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Federal Courts Sentence Native Americans to Longer Prison Terms
How federal authority over tribes fails to provide equal justice under the law
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The Bad River Chippewa Take on an Oil Giant: Review of ‘Bad River: A Story of Defiance’
A new film chronicles how the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are united in their opposition to Enbridge pipelines
Barn Raisers
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The Secret to Creating Vibrant Rural Economies
The USDA's Rural Development office works with nonprofit enterprises to to revitalize rural economies
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Wendell Berry: What New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman Gets Wrong About Rural America
‘Those of us who speak for the country (“rural America”) must never give up’
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Welcome to Barn Raiser: Your independent source for rural and small town news
A letter from the editors
Letters to the editor
Readers Respond to Wendell Berry
Read →Food & Agriculture
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National Farmers Union Pushes Congress on Farm Bill
Iowa farmers warn of lost opportunities to expand the agricultural safety net
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How Harris’s Economic Strategy Could Help Farmers
Taking on monopolies and lowering consumer costs is both a winning political strategy and the right thing to do
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Lawsuit Against a Small Wisconsin Town Poses Critical Test for CAFO Regulations
The state’s biggest business lobby helps two residents challenge a Polk County town’s restrictions on livestock feeding operations
Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch
Religion
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Civil Religion as a Gateway to Christian Nationalism
The inclusion of “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance was a sectarian move whose exclusionary effects are increasingly evident in today’s religious landscape
Brian Kaylor & Beau Underwood, Sightings
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The Politics of Loving Your Neighbor in Rural America
Reflections of a Lutheran pastor in Dunn County, Wisconsin
Arts & Culture
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Country Queers Spread the Love in Rural America
Rae Garringer’s new book documents more than a decade of LGBTQ+ rural life
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A Supper Club State of Mind
Wisconsin has more supper clubs than any other state. But how long will this iconic institution survive?
History
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The 19th Century Haunting that Made This Small Tennessee Town Famous
Historian sheds new light on the dark tale of the Bell Witch
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Jim Hightower Confronts the 1980s Farm Crisis
"It's the same old story—Reagan helps the rich, and Lord help the rest of us."