Wetlands Legacies | WRE Program Overview
producer & editor

In Nebraska, the WRE program, formerly known as WRP, refers to Wetland Reserve Easements– a voluntary initiative that assists private and tribal landowners in protecting, restoring, and enhancing wetlands previously degraded by agricultural use. It is an opportunity for landowners to receive financial incentives to restore wetlands. The goal of this film project is to educate landowners who have altered or drained wetlands, including problem wet areas, about the options they have available to them. This film follows three wetland experts who give an overview of the WRE program in Nebraska. It also features stunning cinematography showcasing the beauty, diversity, and importance of wetlands in Nebraska.

This project was in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Ducks Unlimited, and the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

Wetland Legacies | Nebraska Landowner Stories
producer & editor

In Nebraska, the WRE program, formerly known as WRP, refers to Wetland Reserve Easements– a voluntary initiative that assists private and tribal landowners in protecting, restoring, and enhancing wetlands previously degraded by agricultural use. It is an opportunity for landowners to receive financial incentives to restore wetlands. This film features four stories of Nebraska landowners who have successfully enrolled in the program and restored a wetland on their property. It also highlights the beauty and diversity of wetlands, as well as the benefits they provide to landowners and surrounding communities.

This project was in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Ducks Unlimited, and the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

The Whooper Highway
co-producer

Standing five feet tall and angel white, Whooping Cranes are the tallest birds in North America and the rarest crane species in the world. Once widespread throughout the Great Plains, the last wild migratory flock plummeted to 15 birds in the 1940s. Today, their number has climbed to some 540 birds, thanks to the conservation work by many. However, in a world inundated with urban development, habitat loss, water quality and quantity issues, and climate change–much is at stake. Over five years, photographer and writer Mike Forsberg, working alongside researchers, documented the lives of this last wild population of whooping cranes. In the spring of 2022, he followed the birds on their migration north. This six-minute narrative animation uses cutting-edge science and telemetry data to follow that migration through the lens of one family's remarkable and poignant journey of 37 days and 2,500 miles up the heart of the continent, connecting critical wetland and grassland habitats along the way.

This video was produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in partnership with Mike Forsberg, the members of the Whooping Crane Tracking Partnership in the US and Canada, and Platte Basin Timelapse. Animation created by 422 South.

UNDER THE WIRE
director, editor, cinematographer

Pronghorn are endemic to North America and make their home in the high plains and vast sagebrush sea of the American West, and like many ungulate species, their survival relies on the ability to roam freely. They need to be able to migrate 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 wildlife diversity held mostly in private ownership. The rangelands in this area stewarded by ranchers make ideal habitat for pronghorn and other wildlife species. However, the miles of fences used to keep cattle in pastures are often barriers to the pronghorn’s and other wildlife’s movements.

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

HIGH PLAINS WILD
director, editor, cinematographer

In the High Plains of western Nebraska, bighorn sheep can be found scaling the buttes that rise above the North Platte River valley. However, in recent history, that was not always the case. Bighorn sheep were once commonly found in the Great Plains and American West but were nearly hunted to extinction and are now threatened by disease and habitat fragmentation. In Nebraska, reintroduction efforts began back in the early 1980s. Today a dedicated community of biologists and researchers work tirelessly to understand how to keep these populations in the Wildcat Hills and the Pine Ridge healthy and viable.

This film shows a behind the scenes look of the lingering wild western Nebraska caught on camera by two local conservation photographers, a look into the natural history of bighorn sheep in western Nebraska, and the ongoing efforts by biologists and researchers who are dedicated to keeping these bighorn sheep populations around for years to come.

https://e360.yale.edu/features/2022-film-contest-runner-up-bighorn-sheep-nebraska

SANDHILLS WETLANDS
director, editor, cinematographer

In the heart of North America, lies 20,000 square miles of mostly intact mixed-grass prairie-covered dunes called the Sandhills. Beneath the ground, lies the Ogallala Aquifer, which holds nearly one billion acre-feet of water. Impressively, the Sandhills has more than one million acres of wetlands and is one of the last truly wild landscapes left in the Great Plains. Water is a critical resource for the people, plants, and wildlife inhabiting the Sandhills and those downstream who rely on the Ogallala Aquifer for drinking water, crop irrigation, and other municipal uses. Ranchers and conservation organizations manage the land through grazing, fire, and various other methods.

Throughout this film, Ted LaGrange, the Nebraska State Wetland Program Manager, will guide the viewer through a series of stories about wetlands in the Nebraska Sandhills, the conservation efforts and challenges these wetlands face today, and the species and people who call the Sandhills home.

In partnership with Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Platte Basin Timelapse embarked on a multi-year project titled, “Wetlands of Nebraska: An Outreach and Education Project”. This project aims to increase awareness of the importance of the wetlands in Nebraska and why we need to conserve them. The products from this project include an updated Nebraska Wetlands guidebook, a student wetland activity booklet, and a series of multimedia products, including ESRI StoryMaps, and five short films. For more information, please visit: NebraskaWetlands.com

SALINE WETLANDS
director & editor

Water, saltier than the sea, is making its way to the surface in the heart of North America. The story of the saline wetlands of eastern Nebraska is one of incredible resilience from a great deal of habitat loss. In the last 150 years, more than 80% of the historic 20,000 acres of saline wetlands have been destroyed due to the ditching, draining, and filling of many sites to make way for residential, commercial, and industry. Yet hope endures as rigorous restoration efforts are underway, resulting in the reappearance of rare plant and animal species adapted to live within the salt flats. The curious needn’t venture more than a thirty-mile radius from Nebraska’s capitol building to visit these unique inland seashores.

This film will take you through a series of stories highlighting the plants and wildlife inhabiting the saline wetlands and the community working to conserve the wetlands for generations to come. You will also meet artists and educators, some with a deep history in the saline wetlands and others who have recently discovered and fallen in love with the wetlands.

In partnership with Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Platte Basin Timelapse embarked on a multi-year project titled, “Wetlands of Nebraska: An Outreach and Education Project”. This project aims to increase awareness of the importance of the wetlands in Nebraska and why we need to conserve them. The products from this project include an updated Nebraska Wetlands guidebook, a student wetland activity booklet, and a series of multimedia products, including ESRI StoryMaps, and five short films. For more information, please visit: NebraskaWetlands.com

COUNTING CRANES
director, editor, cinematographer

Imagine trying to count hundreds of thousands of birds in a matter of seconds. This is what Andy Caven does every spring… from a plane. In March, upwards of a million sandhill cranes pass through Nebraska's central Platte River Valley. For the past 20 years, the Crane Trust has conducted aerial surveys of sandhill crane roosts to get an accurate count of the number of birds that pass through. Andy and his team take us behind the scenes to show us how this process is done, what they have learned, and why it's important. "It's important because we still have this amazing thing to come and witness. It is not just the largest gathering of cranes in North America, it's the largest gathering of cranes in the world." –Andy Caven

A TROUT WITH FEATHERS
director, editor, cinematographer

In the upper reaches of North America’s watersheds, one will find a charismatic chunky gray bird dipping and diving underwater in clear, fast-flowing streams. This bird is called the American dipper and is North America’s only aquatic songbird. Photographer and conservationist Mike Forsberg fell in love with the American dipper on a college fishing trip. After learning about these birds and their unique behaviors of dipping and diving underwater, he set out on a mission to document their natural history. This included photographing their behavior above water and below. This film follows Mike on his quest to photograph the American dipper diving underwater in the Poudre River in Colorado and will introduce you to a lifelong birder, retired school teacher, and ex-Harley rider Steve Den who helps Mike along the way. This film was produced with the Platte Basin Timelapse project.

RETURN OF THE SWAN
director, editor, cinematographer

While driving down a two-track road, deep in the Nebraska Sandhills, one may be so lucky to witness a heavenly white bird gliding across one of the many spring-fed lakes. The trumpeter swan is the largest waterfowl species in the world. Almost hunted to extinction, these birds have since been reintroduced to the Nebraska Sandhills and are thriving there today. But conservation work is never done, and challenges for these birds loom on the horizon.

In this conservation success story, you will meet the researchers who have worked tirelessly to protect trumpeter swans and their habitat, ranchers who live among these birds and make their lives in the Nebraska Sandhills, and a photographer whose love for this species emanates through his photographs.This film was produced with the Platte Basin Timelapse project.

FOLLOW THE WATER
co-producer & cinematographer

Follow the Water is a 60 minute NET Nebraska documentary that aired nationally on PBS, Earth Day 2019. This documentary, based in part on the Platte Basin Timelapse project (PBT), tells the story of the Platte River Basin as Mike Forsberg and Pete Stegen journey through the watershed by bike, backpack and canoe - meeting dedicated conservationists, giving voice to the land and wildlife, and exploring what's at stake in our home watershed.

Watch Featured Length Film Here: https://www.pbs.org/video/follow-the-water-b4mtrz/

LOW INTENSITY
cinematographer & editor

A common misconception is that fire is always bad, that it destroys landscapes and tears communities apart. When settlers arrived in the American West, wildfire suppression became a standard practice. What many did not realize is that the suppression of fire allowed for fuel loads to build, causing larger, hotter, and more destructive wildfires.  

Today, landowners and conservation groups understand the importance of fire and are now prescribing low-intensity fires to different landscapes to prevent these large, intense wildfires from occurring as frequently. By using prescribed fire, fuel loads are decreased, and native plant growth is encouraged while combating invasive species.  

In early September 2019, a crew of over 200 volunteer and career firefighters from Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and South Dakota came together for a wildfire suppression training exercise in the Wildcat Hills, an area in western Nebraska near Scottsbluff and Gering.

This training exercise has created community, trained firefighters from Nebraska and surrounding states to gain skills to combat wildfires, and provided low intensity burns to reduce fuel loads, as well as manage the Wildcat Hills’ ecosystems. This film was produced with the Platte Basin Timelapse project in part for Grant Reiner’s Masters in Applied Science project.

A FORGOTTEN LANDSCAPE
drone cinematographer

The Wildcat Hills are located within the panhandle of western Nebraska. They span across 55 miles East to West from the Wyoming border to south of Bridgeport, Nebraska. Conservation efforts have taken place to create a working landscape that benefits both cattle and wildlife. Watch as graduate student Grant Reiner discovers what his camera traps capture within the Wildcat Hills landscape, scientists and researchers reintroduce bighorn sheep, landowners see wildlife they have never seen before on their families historic ranch land, and learn from Platte River Basin Environments Land Manager and Rangeland Ecologist. This film was produced with the Platte Basin Timelapse project in part for Grant Reiner’s Masters in Applied Science project.

LEADING THE WINDS
director, editor, cinematographer

Every year, students from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Division of Campus Recreation Outdoor Adventures Department staff apply for the Outdoor Leadership Seminar (OLS), which provides experiential leadership training in the backcountry. This year, eight students backpacked through the Wind River Range of Wyoming to learn invaluable leadership skills that will be beneficial to them in their future careers and everyday lives.

CALL ME COCOBOLO
co-directed & co-edited

Many years ago, the campesinos arrived in Panama and were looking for land to use for agriculture. This resulted in mass degradation of pristine tropical rainforest and species loss. However, one individual had the passion to protect a piece of this ecosystem. He successfully purchased the land from a ranchers widow, and has now turned it into a field station and the headquarters of the non-profit called CREA which implements conservation through research, education, and action. Now, he invites people from all over the world to conduct research in this biologically rich environment.

This film was made at the 2018 Women Wildlife Filmmaking workshop taught by Morgan Heim and Jenny Nichols. 

WATERSHED
editor

Imagine if you could follow a drop of water on a 900-mile journey downstream from mountains to plains. Imagine you could listen to its myriad stories as it makes its way from an alpine trout stream to a prairie river full of cranes or from a staircase of massive dams and reservoirs to a six-inch pipe that waters a farmer’s crop field.

The Platte River Basin is one of the most over-appropriated river systems in the world. Every drop of water is spoken for, and little is free.

The basin supports an industrial, agricultural powerhouse laid over one of the most endangered and altered grassland ecosystems on earth. Beneath the ground, it harbors more than half of the mighty Ogallala Aquifer; fossil water whose quantity and quality are at stake. In an age of climate change and economic uncertainty, this basin is being asked to be both food producer and energy pump.

Despite these challenges, there is reason to believe in a promising future for this vital region. By managing our natural resources responsibly, we can sustain the water that all living things need to survive.

CENTRAL PLATTE WILD
producer & editor

The Platte River Valley is one of Nebraska’s most biologically rich ecosystems, home to hundreds of species. This biodiversity would not exist without the ongoing efforts of conservation organizations and ecologically minded landowners working to protect and restore critical habitat.

This video is a compilation of game camera and camera trap footage captured around a beaver pond on Crane Trust property and offers a rare glimpse into the hidden lives of the wildlife that depend on this dynamic river system.

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS: THE GREATER PRAIRIE CHICKEN
cinematographer & editor

Created for Platte Basin Timelapse's educational efforts about the Nebraska Sandhills, we learn about the life history of the greater prairie chicken and why they need large patches of contiguous grassland to survive.

NORTH AMERICA’S BIRD OF PARADISE
cinematographer & editor

A short film showcasing greater sage grouse on a lek on a private ranch in Wyoming.