Last evening we attended a premiere showing of the film "When the Landscape is Quiet Again: The Legacy of Art Link." It was good, and I intend to watch it again when it airs on Prairie Public TV on October 9. The event was held in the Belle Mehus Auditorium in Bismarck and will be repeated again in Fargo on Monday evening. The title of the film comes from a speech he gave in the 1970's which is regarded as his and North Dakota's "Gettysburg Address." During that period he found himself embroiled in controversy regarding the opening up of North Dakota to energy companies who wanted to come in and, unbridled, tear up the countryside, rape the resources they lusted after, and then leave, taking no responsibility for the mess they'd made.
North of Bismarck near Highway 83 is a plot of several hundred acres of land located at the junction of the road leading to the town of Garrison where there is good testimony to ruination. I don't know the history of it, but it is obvious no one took anyone to task for what had been created. Countless, huge piles of soil formed by large earth moving machines stand and leave that patch of ground absolutely no good for anything except for wildlife habitat, and the terrain is so rough and covered with brush that I don't think hunters can walk through it. Thankfully, land now must be returned to its original condition after the resources have been mined.
We saw Art and Grace Link in Medora a couple of weeks ago at Teddy Roosevelt's 150 birthday celebration. The organizers made it known that Grace, too, celebrated a birthday that day, her 90th. I have this anecdote: the day was windy, rainy, and in general not nice to be outdoors. Mary and I had just eaten in Medora's large cafeteria and were walking to our car. Here comes Art and Grace, he in a wheelchair and she pushing him at a very brisk pace to get into the restaurant and out of the nasty weather. A younger lady accompanied them, but she had to walk fast to keep up with Mrs. Link.
Last night when the Links were brought into their seats, the many hundreds who made up the crowd stood to give them an extended standing ovation. All of the stories related in the film illustrate why he is held in high esteem.
