The state parks department--in cahoots with area nonprofits--has, it seems, added to the ongoing pressures farmers in western Washington County are dealing with.

The decision to revoke leases at Prairie Grove Battlefield Park from farmers is a decision that betrays the trust of the community in the park's ability to maintain itself as a viable standard bearer for Ozark tradition and memory. It's especially shocking to those who have been careful stewards of the land in a manner consistent with the agrarian traditions this community has upheld since before the war the park commemorates, no matter the economic or environmental woes.

Of course, preservation and protection of the battlefield and the Illinois River and its watershed are important--none of us doubt that. But as the rhetoric concerning poultry growers in the watershed has once again laid bare, farmers leasing from the park will pay the price for judgments administered by people not tied to the realities of making a living from the land.

Indeed, the proposal submitted to........

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