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Secy Vilsack Announces Nearly $2.6M In Grants For Pine Ridge

PORCUPINE, S.D. (AP) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced nearly $2.6 million in grant funding for economic development efforts on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Vilsack announced the grants Tuesday at an event at Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation in Porcupine.

Vilsack says the Obama administration is “touched” by the fact that Pine Ridge is an area of great potential, but also poverty. He says the grants recognize the “partnership that we have nation to nation.”

The grants include $1.85 million for water and waste disposal at Oglala Lakota College and $375,000 to the development corporation in part for a demonstration farm and education center.

The development corporation is managing the implementation of the “Promise Zone” designation of Pine Ridge from the Obama administration. The designation’s goals include increasing economic activity.