Nature photographer Forsberg to speak in Memorial Hall

Forsberg will share his work documenting the vast Plains landscape — its lakes, prairies, plants and animals through the photography from his latest book. O’Brien collaborated with Forsberg in the book, “Great Plains: America’s Lingering Wild,” by providing essays to accompany the photography.

Through this recent book and his lectures, Forsberg has created an exquisite, bittersweet love song to the Great Plains, demonstrating that the Plains are a dynamic but often forgotten landscape — overlooked, undervalued, misunderstood, and in desperate need of conservation.

Forsberg earned a degree in geography with an emphasis in environmental studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and later worked at Nebraskaland magazine as a staff photographer and writer for six years before starting his own photography business and gallery. Forsberg and his wife and business partner, Patty, have developed exhibitions of photographs from his books.

His images have appeared in publications including Audubon, National Geographic, Natural History, National Wildlife and in books published by National Geographic and Smithsonian. He is also the author of “On Ancient Wings: The Sandhill Cranes of North America.”

In May, Forsberg received the Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize from the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for “Great Plains: America’s Lingering Wild.”

Dan O’Brien is a rancher-falconer-writer who is also a great storyteller. He will recount some of his experiences with Forsberg, and discuss the critical importance of water in sustaining life on the Plains.

O’Brien is the author of numerous books of fiction and nonfiction. His works include “Spirit of the Hills;” “The Contract Surgeon,” winner of the 2000 Western Heritage Award for Fiction; “Buffalo for the Broken Heart,” chosen as the One Book South Dakota Selection for 2009; The “Indian Agent;” and a short story collection, “Eminent Domain,” which won the Iowa Short Fiction Award.

The lecture program, made possible through the Esther and Raleigh Pilster Fund, will contribute to the educational mission of Chadron State College, students, faculty and citizens living in the high plains area. One of the purposes of the fund — established by Esther Pilster, a long-time Nebraska educator — is to establish a notable lecture series focusing on the Great Plains.

An exhibit of Forsberg’s work will be on display at the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center at Chadron State.

“This is the beginning of a lecture series that will bring speakers of national renown to the Chadron State College campus and highlight particular aspects of the Great Plains,” said Lynn Roper, president of the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society. “Examples of possible lectures may include such topics as the ecology, history, economics and cultural aspects of the Great Plains region – all areas about which Mari Sandoz was adamant in her writing.”