June 2026 • Nebraskaland 55
they could pull off, and did it very well and worked really
well together as a team.
"They had just enough ego to care about the pictures
that they were making and the words that they were
writing, but were really genuinely good people. I couldn't
have had a better mentorship opportunity than with all of
those guys."
When I came to Game and Parks in 1998, my first job
was not with Nebraskaland, but I hoped it would lead to
a position on the staff. I thought that opportunity would
come in 10 years or so when Bouc, Farrar, Grier or Hoffmann
retired. It was Forsberg leaving in 1999 to do his own thing
that opened up the position I filled the following year.
I'm now the old guy on the staff, and find it hard to
believe I've been a part of the magazine for one-fourth of its
existence. I, too, was blessed to have learned so much from
the long-timers and Forsberg, the short-timer.
The goal of the current magazine staff — Jeff Kurrus, Justin
Haag, Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley and Julie Geiser — and others
I've worked with, including Doug Carroll, is simply to live
up to the standard set by those who preceded us. We know
that being a member of the staff is a dream job. We get paid
to photograph and write about all of the great things this
state has to offer: the land, fish, wildlife and the importance
of conserving all three, the many outdoor recreational
opportunities, and especially the people.
"It's the Nebraska people," Grier said of what makes
Nebraskaland special. "I was never turned down for the
opportunity to go on somebody's land to photograph.
Everybody made themselves available. More than that,
they'd grab you and say, 'Here, I'm going to show you this or
that.' You meet an awful lot of good people.
"I think it's something to be proud of. It's something you
can say to people, when they say 'What is your name?' and
I'd say Bob Grier. And they'd say, 'Oh, you're a photographer
with Nebraskaland.' They'll recognize you for the rest of your
life working for the magazine."
It is a responsibility none of us, current or past, take lightly.
LEFT: Bob Grier found a single white horse grazing in front
of seven windmills as a storm approached the Watson
Ranch to the north of Scottsbluff.
BELOW: Justin Haag photographed a flock of turkeys
feeding in a snowstorm near Chadron.
ABOVE: Grier captured a storm
moving over the badlands in
Sioux County.
RIGHT: Don Cunningham used
a 35mm panoramic camera to
shoot this image of duck hunters
at sunrise.
