Former Gov. Link dies at 96

As a great friend of electric cooperatives since the 1940s, Art Link received the Helping Hand Award at the 2006 annual meeting of North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives.

Arthur A. Link, former North Dakota governor and renowned champion for the progress of rural North Dakotans and the preservation of their land, died last month at age 96.  Funeral services were held in Bismarck, after Link lay in state in the Capitol rotunda. He has been laid to rest in Alexander, his birthplace.

Link attended local schools and upon completion of studies at North Dakota Agricultural College in Fargo, he returned to Alexander to work on the family homestead farm. In 1939, Link married Grace Johnson in his parents’ home in rural Cartwright, N.D. They raised six children there and celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary last May.

A reputation for honesty and integrity helped put Art Link on a long path of public service, beginning as a township supervisor in 1942. In 1946, he was elected to the state House of Representatives. He was re-elected to and held that seat until 1970, when he was elected to the United States Congress. After one term there, North Dakotans elected Link governor in 1972. He served as the state’s chief executive until 1980.

Link’s support for the progress of electric cooperatives was a hallmark of his public career.  “He was there when electricity came to the family farm in Alexander, and always understood the importance of rural electrification,” said Harlan Fuglesten, director of communications and government relations for the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC). Fuglesten pointed out Link was Speaker of the N.D. House of Representatives in 1965, when he worked to help attain passage of the Territorial Integrity Act. This law secures cooperatives’ rights to continue to serve areas where they have already extended electric service.

In addition, while governor, Link promoted advanced mine reclamation and environmental laws to protect North Dakota citizens while developing the state’s energy resources. Fuglesten said these were positions strongly supported by NDAREC, which conferred its “Helping Hand” award to Link in 2006.

(“When The Landscape Is Quiet Again” is the famous phrase used by Gov. Art Link in a landmark environmental policy address in 1973. See the sidebar story here for the NDAREC experience with that phrase).   

Link family work on behalf of electric cooperatives continues through Art and Grace Link’s son, Don, who serves on the board of directors of McKenzie Electric Cooperative. Don Link represents that co-op on the NDAREC board of directors (where he serves as vice president) and represents North Dakota on the board of directors of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Birth of ‘landscape is quiet again’
Gov. Arthur Link’s “… and the landscape is quiet again” utterance has become a now famous moral imperative regarding the development of North Dakota’s natural resources. It is also now the title of a recent film about his life.

It was 1973 and North Dakota was at a crossroads regarding how the state’s lignite coal reserves should be developed for the region’s economic growth.  In an address to the NDAREC annual meeting, in October of that year, Gov. Link declared it is the duty of the state’s citizens and businesses to preserve – not scar or spoil – the landscape as lignite coal is mined and burned. The “quiet landscape” reference was the cornerstone of that speech. 
The graphics here are reprints from the November 1973 issue of North Dakota REC Magazine (the North Dakota LIVING predecessor). Gov. Link’s remarks were reported in a news story in that issue.

In his editorial (“Mrs. Shafter’s Cow”), Leland Ulmer, magazine editor, said the following introducing the entire text of the governor’s remarks containing the “quiet landscape” reference:
“We haven’t met many people in North Dakota opposed to change or development. We must understand the forces building around us and handle those forces so that a few short years from now we can survive on these prairies. Maybe the governor said it all. Your REC directors gave him a standing ovation the other night. Here’s what he said:

‘We do not want to halt progress. We do not plan to be selfish and say ‘North Dakota will not share its energy resources.’ No. We simply want to ensure 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 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; this land is good as, 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. Change isn’t coming – it’s here! Let’s work together – now!’”

Great River dedicates new coal facility

Gathered for the DryFining technology dedication were, from left: Gov. John Hoeven; Joseph Strakey, U.S. Department of Energy; David Saggau, Great River Energy; Congressman Earl Pomeroy; Sen. Kent Conrad; and Sen. Byron Dorgan.

Great River Energy dedicated its patented DryFining™ coal enhancement system at its generating plant, Coal Creek Station, near Underwood last month.

Coal Creek Station is one of the 10 Great River Energy power plants that generates power for electric cooperatives and their 630,000 consumer-members in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The system, developed by Great River Energy, uses waste heat to reduce the moisture level of low-rank coal, such as the lignite which is plentiful in North Dakota. This lignite coal has a moisture content of 38.5 percent and the coal drying component of DryFining reduces the moisture content to approximately 29 percent. This improves the heating performance of each unit of lignite burned, resulting in less lignite needed for sustaining current power plant performance. Other benefits include improved overall power plant efficiency and significant reductions in power plant stack emissions

“The DryFining system came from the ingenuity of our employees who saw the challenge of high-moisture coal and developed a system that will benefit Great River Energy and our member cooperatives for decades,” said David Saggau, Great River Energy president and CEO, in remarks for the dedication event.

At the dedication event, congratulatory remarks were also provided by Gov. John Hoeven and the North Dakota Congressional delegation: Sen. Kent Conrad, Sen. Byron Dorgan and Congressman Earl Pomeroy.

Great River Energy developed the technology in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In addition, the North Dakota Industrial Commission—through the Lignite Research Council—helped sponsor the initial DryFining technology research. GRE patented its DryFining technology with the expectation it could also be marketed to other electric power generation organizations currently using high-moisture coal.