National Geographic Magazine - Whooping Cranes

Whooping cranes are one of the most endangered birds in the world. Once abundant throughout the Great Plains, this species was almost wiped to extinction. Today, these birds are making a comeback thanks to dedicated conservation, but their story doesn’t end yet. With energy development, urban sprawl, habitat destruction, water quality and quantity issues, and climate change, we ask the question…Can whooping cranes survive in a 21st-century world?

Dive into the perilous migratory journey one whooping crane, 15J, follows in the new article “Going the Distances” in the April 2024 issue of National Geographic. Written by Rene Ebersole and with photos by Mike Forsberg, this story is one you don't want to miss.

This feature in National Geographic is only the beginning for these birds. Mike Forsberg has been working for the past five years on a whooping crane project that will soon become a book. The project's purpose is to honor these birds by showcasing their natural history and beauty, elevating the conservation stories, and to make you feel something, anything, in the hope of keeping these birds around for generations to come.

UNDER THE WIRE - OUT NOW!

This multi-year project was made possible by a diverse community of people–dedicated to wildlife and working lands in the American West.

For inquiries about screening the film with your group or local community, please get in contact with PBT’s project manager and the director of the film, Mariah Lundgren - mlundgren4@unl.edu

Bison and Waterfalls - New Class at UNL

Mike is faculty at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and teaches a number of conservation storytelling courses. The newest class, “Bison and Waterfalls” will be offered during Fall Break 2024. See details below.

Under the Wire - New Film and Photo Project Coming Soon

PBT is excited to announce it’s most recent film and photo project, "Under the Wire". The film and photo essay will be released this fall!

Pronghorn are a species endemic to North America, found in the vast sagebrush sea of the American West, and like many species, need room to roam. They need to be able to move and migrate, sometimes quickly, across large tracks of ground to avoid bad weather and find food. The North Platte River Valley along the Colorado/Wyoming border is rich with diversity, held mostly in private ownership. The rangelands stewarded by the ranchers in this area make ideal habitat for pronghorn and other wildlife species. However, the fences used to keep livestock in pastures can be barriers to the pronghorn and other wildlife movements.

This is a story about a community of people working together to improve fencelines to help these animals move more freely. It also celebrates the wildlife that call the Upper North Platte River Valley home and the folks living and working on this land to help keep these animals around for generations.

Prairie Cranes & Sandhills Chickens Pop-Up Class

Michael Forsberg and Larkin Powell will lead a for-credit study tour to the Platte River and Sandhills regions during the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Spring Break 2023, “Prairie Cranes and Sandhill Chickens.” The 1-credit NRES 493 course will provide experiences in blinds with sandhill cranes and greater prairie chickens, with a focus on how conservation organizations and private individuals work to conserve these critical species and their landscapes in Nebraska. Students will network with stakeholders and develop an awareness for influence of culture, politics, economics, and history in natural resource management and use.

https://newsroom.unl.edu/announce/snr/14985/84704

Plains, Cranes, and a Watershed: Presentation

On July 14, 2022 Mike gave a talk to the International Crane Foundation titled: Plains, Cranes, and a Watershed.

“Magic happens in the heart of North America each March when nearly a million Sandhill Cranes descend to the Platte River Valley in central Nebraska. In that beautiful moment of spring is the largest gathering of cranes in the world. The braided river serves as the nexus of a migratory flyway, a once vast prairie ecosystem and a watershed with a deep history.

Michael will take us on a lifelong personal journey with camera in hand following cranes up and down the Central Flyway, and exploring the Great Plains – once one of the greatest grasslands on Earth. See in a new way his home watershed where he co-founded an innovative multi-media storytelling project called Platte Basin Timelapse that leverages the power of photography to explore the questions of where our water comes from and what it means to live in a watershed community.

Healthy watersheds, resilient grasslands and the connectivity of migratory flyways are central to almost every conversation we have about crane conservation in the world today. And those conversations are stories and imagery that, when shared, have the power to elevate the science and transcend the politics to help each of us connect personally, care deeply and understand what is at stake.”

Introduction to Conservation Photography - University of Nebraska Class

 

Mike and his team at Platte Basin Timelapse will be teaching NRES 260: Introduction to Conservation Photography to undergraduate students at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln this coming Fall. This is the first conservation photography course to be taught at the University of Nebraska. This is the first step Mike and his team are working towards to create an undergraduate minor in conservation storytelling at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Film Festivals 2022

A few of Platte Basin Timelapse's short films featuring Mike and his work telling natural history stories throughout the Platte Basin are official selections for the 2022 Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Wild and Working Lands Film Festival, and the Wyoming International Film Festival. The films are titled "A Trout with Feathers" and "High Plains Wild".