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“Once again, Jerry Apps has tapped into a highly controversial issue to explore contemporary Midwestern values—historical preservation versus
forces of change, environmental protection versus economic opportunity. And once again, Apps succeeds brilliantly. He is an articulate and forceful
voice for the Wisconsin ethos.”
—Jerry Minnich, author of The Wisconsin Almanac
When the Alstage Mining Company proposes a frac sand mine in the small Ames County village of Link Lake, events quickly escalate to a crisis.
Business leader Marilyn Jones of the Link Lake Economic Development Council heads the promine forces, citing needed jobs and income for the county.
Octogenarian Emily Higgins and other Link Lake Historical Society members are aghast at the proposed mine location in the community park,
where a huge and ancient bur oak—the historic Trail Marker Oak—has stood since it pointed the way along an old Menominee trail. Reluctantly
caught in the middle of the fray is Ambrose Adler, a reclusive, retired farmer with a secret.
Soon the fracas over frac sand attracts some national attention, including that of Stony Field, the pen name of a nationally
syndicated columnist. Will the village board vote to solve their budget problems with a cut of the mining profits? Will the mine create
real jobs for local folks? Will Stony Field come to the village to lead protests against the mine? And will defenders of the Trail Marker Oak
literally draw a battle line in the sand?
The book is a fictional novel, with remarkable likeness to the truth.
Jerry Apps, born and raised on a Wisconsin farm, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
a former agricultural extension agent and the author of more than 30 books, many of them on rural history and country life.
He is a regular guest on Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio.
UW Press summary of the book
Jerry Apps website
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