Plains, Cranes and a Watershed

Join us for an encore From the Field Webinar with Conservation Photographer Michael Forsberg, who will join us for a live Q&A after the presentation. Click here to register.

Sponsored by Bette and Richard Frangesch.

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.