2012-02-10-flag_building

While winter has spared remote areas of Minnesota this year, proposed budget cuts will slam the North Country if the U.S. Post Office abandons its location in Ponsford. Ponsford, also known as the Pine Point community, has approximately 500 residents, 200 of which live on the White Earth Indian Reservation, says 50-year resident Tim Willenbring, who was the rural carrier for 36 years. Now retired for 11 years, Willenbring is actively fighting the closure. We met with him just before Christmas in the tiny white metal building with a distinctive federal-blue roof at the end of State Highway 225.

Only 8.8 winding miles long, 225 is the main artery connecting Ponsford with nearby townships. “This is the most devastating thing that could happen to this area,” Willenbring said. “Rural roadside boxes are not secure, and many people don’t have cars or the ability to travel to the post offices in Osage (15 miles) or Callaway (45 miles).”

Besides the 117 Minnesota post offices on the federal budget cut block in Minnesota, another 80 closures are proposed in South Dakota, 76 in North Dakota, and 41 in Wisconsin.

Georgianne Nienaber
Investigative journalist, author