Art Link

North Dakota's former governor Art Link died this past Tuesday of old age. When you are 96, that qualifies (and quantifies) you for "old age." Every day is a gift, more so than when you are young because when you're young you figure the tomorrows to be there. At 96 each tomorrow is a gift.

Art ran out of tomorrows.

Public television re-aired the documentary about Art Link. Last night I watched it for the first time, and was moved by his life and what he did with it.

The documentary, "When the Landscape is Quiet Again" was produced by Clay Jenkinson a.k.a. Thomas Jefferson. (Thomas Jefferson Hour on PPR Sunday mornings at 11:00 am) and was very well done I might add.

Art Link was born of immigrant parents who homesteaded on land near Alexander ND. He and his bride, Grace continued to farm and ranch even during his political career. It was those strong German and Czech roots that made him who he was and what he believed in. He didn't sell short for the big boys in Bismarck, Washington, or wherever the gigantic wheels turn.

"When the Landscape is Quiet Again" is a line taken from one of his speeches and refers to the monumental duty we have to keep the land and water in the best shape possible, if not better - a duty we have for our grandchildren and their grandchildren.

One of those duties is to land reclamation after mining coal. And now it includes oil development, so prevalent in western North Dakota.

Developing our natural resources is important and progressive, it means economic development. At one time in history North Dakota was slated for sacrificial development, so to speak. Until the powers that be hit a brick wall named Governor Art Link.

Yes, we will mine the coal to run the turbines and fire the power plants, that is progressive. But when we are done, we will put the land back together. He fought hard to make sure it wasn't just an idea, but a reality.

Our land, our North Dakota, wasn't to be a one time shot, to use, abuse, and toss aside. We must take care of the land and the waterways, like we take care of each other. So when the landscape is quiet again, the beauty and serenity that belongs to us will be there.

An excerpt from the moving speech: When the Landscape is Quiet Again

We do not want to halt progress
We do not plan to be selfish and say “North Dakota will not share its energy resource.”

No, we simply want to insure the most efficient and environmentally sound method of utilizing our precious coal and water resources for the benefit of the broadest number of people possible.

And when we are through with that and the landscape is quiet again,
when the draglines, the blasting rigs, the power shovels and the huge gondolas cease to rip and roar!

And when the last bulldozer has pushed the last spoil pile into place, and the last patch of barren earth has been seeded to grass or grain,
let those who follow and repopulate the land be able to say,
our grandparents did their job well.
The land is as good and, in some cases, better than before.

Only if they can say this will we be worthy of the rich heritage of our land and its resources.

Governor Arthur A Link
October 11, 1973

Tomorrow he will be buried back in western North Dakota, where he learned and came to believe what a duty we have as people of the land. Thank you Art Link, for fighting for what was right and what was good. For making us accountable to the land, stewards is the word. Good stewards.