NEBRASKAland: Chimney Swifts
Mike wrote a story about Chimney Swifts for NEBRASKAland’s June 2018 magazine.
“One fall evening while walking the dogs around the neighborhood and Irving Middle School in Lincoln, Nebraska, a small group of parents waiting for their kids at soccer practice were pointing up to a massive vortex of swirling chattering silhouettes descending into the school’s towering chimney. “Look at all the bats!” I heard someone say. At first, I thought they were, too. But as we watched I realized these were birds, and they were disappearing into the chimney not coming out of it for the night And they were using a nearby church’s chimney too. I went home and did some quick research. They were a huge migrating flock of chimney swifts.”
To read the full story, click HERE.
Outdoor Photographer: Braided Journey
Mike recently contributed a story about his 1300-mile traverse across the Platte River Basin in 2016 to the Outdoor Photographer magazine.
“On July 1, 2016, my filmmaker friend Pete Stegen and I had set out on what we called a braided journey: traveling by bike, backpack and canoe 1,300 miles across our home watershed, the Platte River Basin, a 90,000-square mile geography that stretches from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming through Nebraska in the heart of the Great Plains.”
To learn more about the magazine visit the Outdoor Photographer website: https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/
The New Territory Magazine Issue 06
Big Sky Tourism: Nebraska's ecotourism industry learns lessons from Namibia
Ornate box turtle tracks on the Switzer ranch in the Nebraska Sandhills. (Michael Forsberg)
Founded by a journalist in 2015, The New Territory is a quarterly print magazine. Its mission is to cultivate connections among the land, people and possibilities of the Lower Midwest.
In Issue 06 of the New Territory Magazine Mike's images were featured in an article about a ranching family in the Nebraska Sandhills taking lessons they learned in Namibia about ecotourism and applying them on their ranch.
To purchase this issue of the magazine or subscribe to upcoming issues check out their website:
http://newterritorymag.com/product/the-new-territory-issue-06-hinterlands
NEBRASKAland: Success in the Salt Marsh
For the August-September 2018 NEBRASKAland magazine, Forsberg contributed a written story and photographs about the endangered saline wetlands found just north of Lincoln, Nebraska.
"Wetlands are among the most productive and biologically diverse habitats on earth. They are the kidneys of the landscape, filtering our water of pollutants and converting them to less harmful substances. They control flooding by giving water a place to go and slowing down runoff and allowing water to absorb back into the soil. They recharge local water tables and aquifers. Sadly, they have been viewed more as a nuisance or an impediment to progress in our country's brief history. Nebraska's eastern saline wetlands have also suffered extensive losses. However, there is hope as many people now recognize the importance of these wetlands and are taking actions toward Success in the Salt Marsh."
We encourage you to subscribe to NEBRASKAland magazine so more of these important stories can be heard and supported. If you do not subscribe, and still want to read this story you can by clicking the link below.
Read here (page 26-38):
http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1008599-nebraskaland-aug-sept-2018/1
Our Vanishing Future: Photographs and Illustrations
Join Trident Booksellers and Cafe and Endangered Species Coalition at Trident Booksellers and Cafe in Boulder, Colorado on Friday, August 3rd from 5 - 7 PM for the opening of Our Vanishing Future: Photographs and Illustrations. This art exhibit will feature photographs by professionals and illustrations by student artists of our vanishing species. The art will be available to view from Wednesday, August 1st to Monday, August 27th at Trident Cafe. Some of Mike's photographs will be featured in this exhibit.
Learn more about the exhibit on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2033028807026722/
Follow the Water Documentary Premiere
Join Mike Forsberg and Pete Stegen at the three,
Follow the Water premieres across Nebraska this summer
Follow the Water is a NET Nebraska production about Mike Forsberg and Pete Stegen's two-month, 1300-mile traverse across the Platte Basin. They traveled the landscape by bike, foot, and canoe. This was all in effort to explore this critical water source and to show how it intersects with the lives of those who live in this 90,000-square mile watershed in the heart of North America. It will tell the story of the Platte River Basin as Mike and Pete journey through the watershed - meeting dedicated conservationists, giving voice to the land and wildlife, seeing whats at stake, exploring the Platte Basin Timelapse project, and more.
"If you want to find where the power lies, follow the money. If you want to find where life is, follow the water."
Where does your water come from?
SCREENING VENUES
Sunday, June 3, 2018
6:00 p.m. CT
The World Theatre
2318 Central Ave.
Kearney, NE 68847
No registrations are required for this FREE screening.
Sunday, July 8, 2018
7:00 p.m. MT
The Midwest Theater
1707 Broadway
Scottsbluff, NE 69361
Register to attend this FREE screening event here.
Thursday, July 12, 2018
6:00 p.m. CT
Fontenelle Forest
1111 Bellevue Blvd N.
Bellevue, NE 68005
Register to attend this FREE screening event here.
Prairie Corridor Project
The Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch is a project that hopes to create a ten-mile tallgrass prairie trail corridor connecting Pioneers Park and Spring Creek Prairie. This project will restore tallgrass prairie, protect habitat, provide opportunities for education, research, and outdoor recreation.
Recently, the Parks Foundation organized a group of sixteen individuals who share the vision for this prairie corridor. These Cabinet members will assist in fundraising, community outreach, advising, and other aspects of the project as it moves forward. Michael is the chair to the Cabinet.
To learn more, visit: http://prairiecorridor.org/
Read the Journal Star article here: http://journalstar.com/news/local/this-is-something-special-city-and-others-partner-to-build/article_8f9613cc-2d87-5dd8-b759-a44e6c3d3cc8.html
Chimney Swifts - Lincoln Journal Star Article
Margaret Reist from the Lincoln Journal Star wrote an article highlighting Irving Middle School's Chimney Swift Club and Michael's work with these neo-tropical migrating birds that spend summers nesting in chimneys in the central and eastern part of the United States, Lincoln included.
Read the full article here.
Platte Basin Timelapse Relocates
The Platte Basin Timelapse project has found a new home at the Center for Great Plains Studies through a collaboration between the center and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Under the direction of Michael Farrell and Michael Forsberg, the team is now located on the fifth floor of the center at 1155 Q St. It was formerly housed in the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Center on East Campus.
Read the full article here: Platte Basin Timelapse Relocates
Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography
We are delighted to announce that Mike has received the 2017 Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography. This award, given by the Sierra Club, honors an individual who has made a superlative use of still photography to further a conservation cause. Mike's work focuses heavily on photographing the Great Plains of North America, one of the most endangered ecosystems on Earth. Through his photography, he hopes to shine a light on the often over looked or forgotten species that call this region home.
Mike will be accepting this award in Washington DC on September 15, 2017.
American Grasslands Conference 2017
America's Grasslands Conference - National Wildlife Federation
The fourth biennial America’s Grasslands Conference brings together researchers, natural resource professionals, farmers and ranchers, policy experts, and conservationists to discuss relevant issues related to the conservation of North America’s grasslands. The next conference will take place November 14-16, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas.
WiLDSPEAK 2017
Photo by Jürgen Freund
WiLDSPEAK is a conservation communications symposium organized by the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP). The symposium will be held November 14 & 15 at the Carnegie Institution for Science, 1530 P ST, NW in Washington, DC.
If you are interested in learning about science, conservation, photography, and storytelling, then consider attending this conference to meet professionals in the conservation industry, watch presentations and learn about current conservation projects happening around the world.
Click the link below for more information on tickets and registration; we hope to see you there!
https://conservationphotographers.org/wildspeak/register-here/
Our Vanishing Future: Photographs and Illustrations
Lesser Prairie Chicken, New Mexico, ©Michael Forsberg
Capturing the rare and vanishing species of the United States: Wildlife photography by professionals and illustrations by student artists.
Location: Gage Academy of Art, Steele Gallery, 1501 10th Ave E #101, Seattle WA
Opening: Friday, August 18th, 5-8pm
Photographers featured include: Michael Forsberg, David Moskowitz, Tom Mangelsen, April Bencze, Paul Bannick, Kerri Farley, David Showalter, Steven Gnam, Ken Bohn.
Sponsored by the Endangered Species Coalition & the Gage Academy for Art
Collecting Nebraska - First Friday Event
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Nebraska, the Great Plains Art Museum's upcoming exhibition will feature artworks from the permanent collection that depict Nebraska or were created by Nebraska artists. The exhibition runs August 4 - December 16, 2017. Mike's photograph, October in the tallgrass will be included. The First Friday event is on August 4 from 5-7 p.m. as part of the celebration. We hope to see you there.
Nebraska Forever Stamp - Framed Collector's Editions are now in!
Available now. Mike's image "Evening Passage - Sandhill Cranes" was selected by the United States Postal Service as a Forever Stamp in celebration of Nebraska Statehood 150th Birthday. We are very honored to be part of the celebration.
SUMMIT WORKSHOPS - Great Bear Rainforest
GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST - SUMMIT WORKSHOPS
JUNE 22-27, 2017
Photo by Melissa Groo
Join Michael Forsberg and Melissa Groo as they lead a small, select group of intrepid travelers into the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia. This is a tour for photographers who are looking for a new way of approaching nature photography, both in an aesthetic and storytelling way. Photography has the power to tell a story and to affect conservation. Although we may see and photograph bears (black bears and grizzly bears), this tour is not about getting frame-filling shots of bears; it’s about engaging with and documenting the countless things that make up this ecosystem, from the large, luminous jellyfish, to the fin of a humpback whale scything the water, to the salmon skeletons found deep in the forest, picked clean. We’ll photograph sweeping vistas of valleys carved by glaciers, and gigantic hemlock trees dripping with “old man’s beard.” We will venture deep into old-growth rainforest, guided by expect trackers who will point out to us the plants and animals that make this ecosystem so special, and we’ll trek into valleys marked by meadows of wildflowers and meandering streams. Back at the lodge we’ll spend time with the First Nations people that are working hard to conserve this area, discovering what the threats are what they’re doing to combat them. Throughout all of this, we’ll talk and think about making pictures that touch on conservation principles applicable to any situation.
Participants will be expected to know the basics about their camera gear. The instructors will always be available to answer any and all questions, and will work as time permits one on one with people in the field or lodge, but there will not be formal group instruction on camera use or photo processing.
Participants need to be in good physical condition. This means that they are able to walk up to 3 or 4 miles carrying their chosen equipment, snacks, water. They should be able to clamber in and out of boats on their own, and cope with maneuvering often slippery rocks at the shoreline. They should be able to handle being on small boats sometimes on choppy water for up to two hours at a time.
Click here to learn more: https://www.photographyatthesummit.com/greatbearrainforest/
This Photographer Never Left His Backyard
This interview with Michael was conducted by Co-Founder of PhotoShelter, Allen Murabayashi. In the interview they discuss Michael's work on the Great Plains, Sandhill Cranes, and Watersheds. Listen above or read the full article below.
https://blog.photoshelter.com/2017/03/conservation-photographer-never-left-backyard/
PREDATOR-FRIENDLY PRAIRIE LANDLORDS
Michael's images were featured in a blog post written by Jill O'Brien from Wild Idea Buffalo Co.
This post discusses the roles of predators and their importance in a prairie ecosystem.
"Our love of nature includes a native habitat that is (or could be) home for prey and predators alike - including the great predators that have been extirpated or that have taken refuge in the mountains away from the pressing force of the greatest predator of all, humans."
Click the link below to read the full article: https://wildideabuffalo.com/blogs/blog/predator-friendly
Evening Passage stamp released today
Nebraska Statehood Forever Stamp featuring Mike's image of Sandhill Cranes flying over the Platte River is released today. Released at this ceremony with Governor Pete Ricketts, First Lady Susanne Shore, Jeffrey C. Johnson of the USPS this morning at the State Capitol. It was a beautiful morning that started early in front of the Lincoln sculpture outside the capitol. Happy Birthday Nebraska!
http://www.1011now.com/content/news/First-News-Nebraska-takes-the-show-live-to-the-Nebraska-State-Capitol-415102713.html
#nebraskastamp #nebraskastatehood
