40 Nebraskaland • July 2025
This description of seeing a lone
whooping crane on the Platte River in
Nebraska is indicative of this book's
most resonating strength: When
Forsberg decides to tackle a subject,
he is all-in. His work goes beyond
photography, which is as stunning as
it's ever been.
To create "Into Whooperland," he
enlisted the help of what seems a
countless list of scientists, landowners
and other conservationists to deliver a
simple message. This is written by
Rich Beilfuss, President and CEO of
the International Crane Foundation, in
the book's introduction: "We must find
sustainable solutions for our lands and
waters, for the wildlife we love and for
our own livelihoods and future."
This theme pervades throughout
the book, the message hitting you
on every page. Forsberg wants you
to know that the world's whooping
crane population fell to fewer than 20
birds during the 1940s, and readers are
reminded of this number across the
book's more than 220 pages. The story
of the whooping crane is a warning
of what has happened and what will
happen if we don't protect this bird —
if we don't protect all wildlife.
Another dedicated member of
Forsberg's team was Chris Boyer, who
traveled with the author in a Cessna
1957 prop plane along Whooper
Highway, the migration route from the
Texas Gulf Coast to northern Canada. Or
the International Crane Foundation's
co-founder George Archibald, known
for "dancing" with captive cranes and
encouraging Forsberg to write this
book. Or scientist Andy Caven, who
was his photo partner in the chapter
entitled "Eight Days in a Blind,"
where Forsberg chronicles his time
in a photo blind deep in the heart
of whooping crane nesting grounds
in the boreal wetlands, forests and
plains of Canada.
"One of us always watched the nest,
except roughly between 11 p.m. and 2
a.m., when we both tried to sleep. The
last thing I would do before nodding
off was manually focus my lens on
the nest. I kept a shutter release cable
next to my head so I wouldn't miss a
photograph … ."
Drawings and other findings came
from the trip. Observations became
field notes and field notes became
Forsberg, alongside International Crane Foundation scientist Andy Caven, spent eight days in two separate
photo blinds to capture this whooping crane nest at Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. A two-day-old chick
explores its new world.
