OWAA’S Circle of Chiefs lost a member April 16, with the death of Robert (Bob) Lindholm, 82, of Lindsborg, Kansas.
Lindholm served as Missouri assistant attorney general until he retired in 1993. He was the point man in environmental litigation for both his bosses, one a Republican, one a Democrat.
Perhaps his most notable achievement for Missouri was his legal work toward the establishment of the 200-mile-long MKT trail, known as the Katy Trail, the nation’s longest rails-to-trails conversion, which has become a heavily used hiking and biking trail from near St. Louis to western Missouri.
Lindholm, who received OWAA’s Circle of Chiefs award in 2007, made his mark in outdoor communication through his photography. He favored large-scale, black-and-white landscape work in the manner of his hero, Ansel Adams.
Lindholm collaborated on a book celebrating the travels of pioneer artist Karl Bodmer, which was was honored by the national Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
He also was the photographer for William Least Heat Moon’s book, “River Horse.”
An exhibit of his photos traveled to 24 national park sites and he produced duplicate exhibits for President Jimmy Carter and for the United State’s Congress.
Lindholm told the Missouri Conservationist magazine that outdoor photography has two aims; “One is pointing out the beauty of things we need to save, and the second is pointing out the problems we’ve created.”
In the manner of Ansel Adams, Lindholm did his own darkroom work and was known to spend a day perfecting a single print.
He wrote in the March, 1988, issue of Photographic magazine, “As photographers we are privileged to be able to capture some of the beauty of this earth. In passing it along to others we will have given a bit to this world from which we take so much.”
To read a full obituary for Lindholm, written by OWAA member Joel Vance, visit https://owaa.org/ou/2018/04/remembering-jade-chiefs-recipient-robert-bob-lindholm/. ♦