Roanoke farmer Burt Tietje was the guest speaker Thursday for the first in a series of programs that are part of the Smithsonian Museum’s Water/Ways exhibit at Zigler Art Museum.
Tietje lives on his family’s 440-acre property, Tall Grass Farm, which is located between Jennings and Roanoke, bordering the east side of the Grand Marais drainage system.
“Water is important to the economy here as well as in the U.S.,” he said. “Natural resources are the only real way of adding wealth into the economy. All wealth goes back to natural resources, everything else is just services.”