WALES, Maine -- Land trusts across the Northeast have partnered with poets this year for the first edition of "Writing the Land," an anthology to help raise awareness of the value of protecting nature.

Forty poets each wrote pieces inspired by different areas of conserved land, including here in Maine.

David Crews, one of the poets, worked with three different Land Trusts, including Liberation Farms and the Little Jubba Central Maine Agrarian Commons. He said each one allowed him to connect with the land, and people who work the land, in different ways.

"They're really trying hard to try to give voice not only to the land itself, but to people who are trying to serve the land in responsible ways," Crews explained.

The anthology can be purchased at the Land Trusts featured in the book. Next year, Writing the Land will have four anthologies coming out, featuring more than 100 poets and more than 50 Land Trusts. One of them will cover Maine specifically, because the state contains so much protected land.

Rachelle Parker, another poet in the anthology, said for her, being a part of the project meant connecting with the ways land offers sustenance and shelter.

"For me, I write from a point of view of a descendant of enslaved Africans," Parker noted. "So they had to rely on the land to gain freedom at times, transporting themselves from slavery to freedom, and how the land was there to accept them and to welcome them."

Lis McLoughlin, director and editor of Writing the Land, hopes the poems take readers on a journey and encourage them to emotionally connect with nature; the spaces represented in the poems and what they have around them.

She said when her community in Massachusetts was threatened by a pipeline in 2014, a Land Trust came to their defense.

"I came to realize that Land Trusts are really important," McLoughlin recounted. "Their mission of protecting land is for everybody. So I thought, 'Well, my poetry comes from the land, I may as well use it to help protect the land.'"

Winter is here, leaving many older South Dakotans vulnerable to social isolation. But a growing body of research, as well as opportunities, shows these individuals can improve their quality of life through creativity.

A study published shortly before the pandemic found that participating in community choirs can be a solution for reducing loneliness and increasing interest in life among older adults. And senior advocates have said it can go beyond music, with simple arts and crafts projects serving as creative outlets.

Lindsey Holmquest, associate state director for community outreach at AARP South Dakota, said they all tie together to reflect how beneficial these hobbies can be.

"Studies suggest that participating in art programs can improve physical and mental health by engaging the creative part of your brain," she said, "and that reduces stress, it improves resilience."

She stressed that it doesn't have to be something that requires a lot of talent, time or money. AARP tries to foster that approach through its "Art Together" sessions, with a statewide virtual event scheduled for Dec. 12. The registration deadline is midnight this coming Monday. Participants are asked to pay $10, and the materials will be mailed to them.

Outside of a specific program, Holmquest said the simple approach to arts and crafts can come in multiple forms.

"Finding some coloring books, or some watercolor paints, [it] makes you think in a different way, makes you see in a different perspective," she said.

And if you participate in an organized group or event, Holmquest said not only does it help to reduce loneliness, but can also make it easier to try something new when engaging with others, either virtually or in person. AARP South Dakota's sessions include guidance from local artists.

A new three-part documentary film series examines the intersection of sports and identity within a community.

"Outlier" looks at what it means to be a Latina woman and a backcountry snowboarder. Danielle Reyes-Acosta, the film's executive producer and co-director, said the inspiration for the series was looking at how she, as a Latina, fit into the predominantly white mountain areas she calls home.

Skiing since she was a child, Reyes-Acosta went into marketing - but after some personal tragedies, decided to become a backcountry skier. She described one possible misconception about the film.

"I think that it's that these worlds can't coexist, and I do think they can," she said. "And so, I challenge anyone that says, 'A storytelling piece can't also have adrenaline in it,' to watch it - and vice versa. You think that adrenaline pieces can't also have plotlines and character development that leans into the core essence of our humanity?"

The film's title is a reflection of how Reyes-Acosta identifies as an "outlier," much like the mountain ranges where she snowboards. Those mountains provided some challenges in making the film. It will be screened at the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival, and released on Vimeo next spring.

In making the film, Reyes-Acosta said she felt anxious about confronting the vulnerabilities of action sports and her cultural identity. But she said it's just one part of a journey of self-discovery. She added that it also is intended to provide a different perspective on what it means to be Latinx.

"The Latinx community is certainly overrepresented in low-wage, service industry jobs," she said, "and we haven't been seen as leaders; whether it's in the outdoor space, corporate America and the creative world."

She was afraid about whether the film would be accepted or erased, but she's found an outpouring of support in the Hispanic community. Reyes-Acosta said she hopes people who see the film take away the impression that being "different" can be beautiful.


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Artists in Montana have recently immortalized the state's national monuments on canvas.

At "Pint Night" events put on by the Montana Conservation Voters, two artists finished live paintings of the Upper Missouri River Breaks and Pompeys Pillar, two of the state's three national monuments that were both designated in 2001.

Terri Porta in Billings painted a landscape of Pompeys Pillar, a rock formation that was significant to Native Americans and also the Lewis and Clark journey west. Porta said it's important to keep all aspects of history in mind - both good and bad.

"We have to remember our history," she said. "We need to take better care of our land, and these kind of places that become a national monument - that helps to contain it, to bring it into a place where everybody's accessing these memories too, and we won't forget what happened."

Since the Antiquities Act of 1906, presidents have had the power to designate national monuments - and presidents from both parties have wielded that power to preserve culturally significant landscapes. Montana also is home to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Stella Nall, an artist who "live-painted" the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in Missoula, said her work, which incorporates beadwork, is designed to challenge stereotypes about indigenous art. Her painted landscape was positioned in the belly of an imaginary animal with three legs.

"My intention with this piece is to hopefully draw more viewers into the landscape who might not necessarily automatically connect with landscape art," she said. "So, that's why I incorporated this imagined creature."

National monument protections are popular with the public. According to a recent poll, nearly 80% of Montanans support a president's power to protect existing public lands as national monuments. Paintings of all three national monuments in Montana will be featured at the Montana Conservation Voters' annual gala in October.