Tom Bell, a Wyomingconservationist, rancher, and decorated World War II bombardier, started a newspaper in 1970 that would become theHigh Country News. He died at the age of 92 in 2016 in Lander, Wyoming, where he had foundedHigh Country News.[4]
In 2017,High Country News became the first non-Native American publication to establish an Indigenous Affairs desk as part of an effort to attract new readers and improve their coverage of Native American issues.[5][6]
High Country News has more than 35,000 subscribers.[2] In 2017, it received approximately 43% of its income from donations, 29% from subscriptions, 5% from advertising, and the balance from syndication and other sources.[7]
According to a review inThe Christian Science Monitor, the paper "is closely read in congressional offices and state houses, as well as in the government agencies that control most of the rural West. It has broken important stories subsequently picked up by theNew York Times and other national media."[8] FormerArizona GovernorBruce Babbitt described the paper as "the only place where you can really know what's happening in the rest of the West."[8]
High Country News has received numerous journalism and environmental awards, including (but not limited to):
2020George Polk Award for Education Reporting[9] for "Land Grab Universities" by Tristan Ahtone and Robert Lee
2013Utne Reader magazine's Utne Media Award for Best Environmental Coverage[11]
2013National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Journalism Award, Science Reporting for a Local or Regional Audience category[12] for "The Color of Bunny" by Hillary Rosner
2012 Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism[13] for "Perilous Passages" by Emilene Ostlind and Joe Riis
2012 National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Journalism Award, Science Reporting for a Local or Regional Audience category,[14] for "Perilous Passages" by Emilene Ostlind, Mary Ellen Hannibal, and Cally Carswell
2012 Society of Environmental Journalists Awards, Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small Market
2011 Excellence in Journalism Awards from the Native American Journalists Association
2010 Native American Journalists Association Best Environmental Story of 2010 (monthly/bimonthly category)
2010Utne Reader magazine's Utne Independent Press Award for Environmental Coverage[15]
2010Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism[16] for "The Dark Side of Dairies" by Rebecca Clarren
2009 Society of Environmental Journalists Awards, Outstanding Small Market Reporting, Print category
