PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Secretary is backing the state of South Dakota in its effort to make sure the old Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad keeps operating west of Tracy, Minn. Secretary Thomas Vilsack sent a letter to the Surface Transportation Board urging the panel to support the state’s petition regarding the Canadian Pacific Railway and the former DM&E. Gov. Dennis Daugaard filed a petition in August with the STB to determine if the CP lived up to the representations it made while seeking to acquire the DM&E. Daugaard met with Vilsack Sept. 12 to discuss the potential loss of the only east-to-west rail in South Dakota and the impact it would have on agriculture. Vilsack told the STB that a full accounting of CP’s promised investment is reasonable.
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