Book is more than just pretty pictures

Laid out prone in South Dakota’s Badlands, wildlife photographer Michael Forsberg focused on burrowing owls in the prairie dog town far down the prairie. During weeks spent hunkered in Dakota dirt, Forberg’s aim shifted. “I was amazed day after day at all the wildlife I saw,’’ he said. “Not just the amount, but the diversity. Everything from dragon flies to pronghorn and a bunch in between. But I knew that people in cars screaming by off in the distance were looking over this landscape and thinking there wasn’t anything there.’’ Forsberg set out to challenge the notion that the Great Plains is a place to drive through or fly over by revealing the region in ways rarely seen or thought about. He tucked away the idea for about five years and refocused on it in 2005. More than 100,000 traveling miles later, the result is Forberg’s latest book, “Great Plains: America’s Lingering Wild.’’ The 260-page, large-format volume is Forsberg’s attempt to remind Plains people what’s out there in their big backyard — and to point out its fragility...read more