Ethanol to impact the area’s future

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, September 15, 2007

The possible impact of the ethanol boom and how this and other factors will impact west central Minnesota — two generations into the future — was addressed during a gathering Tuesday evening at West Central Initiative in Fergus Falls.

More than 30 people from around the region participated in the program that asked: What will west central Minnesota look like in the future? And what issues will our kids or grandkids face 40 years from now?

The dry mill corn-to-ethanol production facility near Fergus Falls will sit on a 109-acre site near County Road 116 northwest of town. Otter Tail Ag Energy’s timeline calls for the mill to produce ethanol in the first quarter of 2008.

The ethanol plant will use about 19.5 million bushels of corn a year. It will be permitted to produce up to 65 million gallons of ethanol a year. In the start-up stages, however, production is expected to be 55 million gallons a year.

“The dialogue Tuesday evening was all part of the Meadowlark Project, a learning laboratory initiated by Northern Great Plains, Inc., (NGP) a Fargo-based non-profit whose mission is to make a positive difference in the future of rural communities,” WCI’s Communications Director Sheri Holm said. “NGP also works with businesses by helping them successfully adapt to changing market and social forces.”

NGP works in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.

A group of 25 leaders from these states met over a period of more than a year to develop four possible scenarios of the future of the Great Plains region. The participants at the Tuesday evening dialogue in Fergus Falls listened to scenarios and then met in small groups to discuss them.

“They used the stories as a springboard to conversation about the future of their own communities,” Holm said. “Storytelling helps people envision our region’s future.”

One scenario painted a somber picture of the influence of technology on our culture in the wake of cyber terrorism. The final story, however, told how the western part of the northern great plains was able to recreate itself into an area nationally recognized for its economic, environmental and social reforms.

“Our hope is that we can identify four or five projects that we might implement in this area,” NGP President Jerry Nagel said at the WCI gathering in Fergus Falls.

He said it’s important to envision the future through stories.

“Telling stories is how we give meaning to our lives,” Nagel said. “It’s the opportunity to see ourselves in different scenarios — to best determine the kind of future we want to live.”

To read or listen to the scenarios, visit www.meadowlarkproject.com/scenarios.asp. Another dialogue is planned in Morris on Sept. 19 from 6-8 p.m. at the Prairie Inn, 200 East Highway 28. The event is free, but RSVP to West Central Initiative, 218-739-2239.