hcn.org

What is High Country News?

High Country News is a US news outlet focused on the American West — its public lands, environment, politics, water, wildlife and the communities that live with those issues. Its homepage presents reported features and analysis rather than general national news, with a strong emphasis on land use, tribal affairs, conservation and rural life.

What it covers

The page's own headlines illustrate the range: Forest Service land transfers, Indian education in Montana, urban crows and roosting conflicts, hail research in Colorado, Interior Department policy, bear–human conflict in southern Montana, and money in state politics. A recurring thread is how history — land, power and identity — still shapes Western politics today.

Who it is for

• Residents of Western states who want regional reporting rather than coast-focused national coverage
• People working in or studying public lands, water, wildlife, energy and tribal governance
• Readers outside the region who want to understand Western environmental and political debates in depth

How it is funded and accessed

It is a subscription-supported publication, with a free trial and free-issue offer promoted on its site. That model matters practically: it means fewer click-driven pieces and more long-form accountability reporting, but also that most of the archive sits behind a paywall.

If you are deciding whether to read it

Start with one topic you already follow — say, public lands or tribal education — and read two or three pieces to see whether the depth and regional framing suit you. For national environmental coverage from a different angle, compare it with E&E News or Inside Climate News.

How can I subscribe to High Country News and what does a subscription include?

High Country News is a nonprofit news outlet covering the American West — public lands, water, Indigenous affairs, wildlife, energy and rural communities. Its homepage currently leads with stories on Forest Service land transfers, Indian education in Montana, bear conflicts, hail research and public-lands politics.

How to subscribe

Go to High Country News and use the Subscribe link in the site navigation. The homepage also promotes a trial offer described as two free issues, so you can sample the publication before committing. The site mentions newsletters as a separate, typically free way to follow its reporting.

What a subscription typically covers

Based on the publication's stated focus, a subscription supports and delivers:

• In-depth reporting and analysis on Western land, water and energy issues
• Indigenous affairs and community coverage
• Wildlife and environment stories, including the kind of long-form features shown on the homepage
• Access to the magazine's reporting and archives

Exact delivery format, issue frequency and current trial terms are best confirmed on the subscription page itself, since these can change.

Is it worth it?

If you follow Western public-lands policy, tribal sovereignty or rural life, this is one of the few outlets covering those beats consistently and in depth. A reader who wants national news or quick breaking coverage may find the regional focus narrow; someone who tracks, say, Forest Service decisions or Colorado River politics will get more value. Start with the free trial or a newsletter, then decide whether the full subscription fits your reading habits.

What topics and regions does High Country News cover?

High Country News covers the American West as a region — its politics, public lands, environment, water, wildlife, Indigenous affairs and rural communities. Its journalism tends to focus on how policy decisions play out on the ground rather than on national political horse races.

Core topic areas

• Public lands and federal agencies: stories about agencies like the Forest Service and Interior Department, land transfers, grazing, and conservation conflicts.
• Environment and climate: reporting on drought, wildfire, energy development, pollution and wildlife, including the practical effects on small towns.
• Indigenous affairs: coverage of tribal sovereignty, education and representation across Western states.
• Politics and money: ballot measures, corporate spending and local election fights over land and resources.
• People and culture: first-person and community pieces about daily life, ranching and identity in the region.

Regions it emphasizes

The coverage centers on the interior and Mountain West — states such as Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Nevada — plus Alaska and parts of the Pacific Northwest where Western land and water issues overlap.

Who it's for

Readers who want regional accountability journalism: residents of Western states, people working in land management or environmental policy, students, and anyone following public-lands debates. If you need breaking national news or business market coverage, this is not the main strength.

A useful next step is to scan the homepage headlines and ask whether they name a place or agency you care about. If they do, the outlet is likely a good fit for following that issue over time; if you need broad national coverage, pair it with a general news source. High Country News offers subscription options, including a trial, if you want to read beyond the free stories.

Who are the journalists and contributors behind High Country News?

High Country News is a regional newsroom focused on the American West, so its contributor list is best understood as a mix of staff reporters, editors, and freelance journalists covering land, water, politics, Indigenous affairs, and wildlife. The homepage names several contributors directly, including B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster, Elizabeth Weinberg, Hannah Covington, Jonathan Thompson, and Nick Mott. Their recent work spans Indian education in Montana, urban crow roosts, hail research in Colorado, public-lands policy, and bear conflict in southern Montana.

H3 What the mix tells you

• Staff and contract reporters: Produce the bulk of news analysis, investigations, and beat coverage.
• Freelance contributors: Often bring specialized or place-based reporting from across the West.
• Editors and columnists: Shape the outlet’s regional perspective and long-form features.

If you want to know who is behind a specific article, click the byline on the story itself. For a fuller picture of the newsroom, the “About” or masthead page is the better next step than the homepage, which mainly surfaces recent stories and contributors. You can also compare coverage with other Western outlets such as High Country News and NPR, though HCN’s regional focus is distinct.

How does High Country News approach environmental and public lands reporting?

High Country News covers the American West as a region shaped by land, power and identity, and its environmental and public-lands reporting follows that framing. Rather than treating conservation as a standalone beat, it tends to connect public lands to politics, money, tribal sovereignty and the people living nearby.

What that looks like in practice

• Accountability on federal agencies. Page evidence shows reporting on the U.S. Forest Service preparing to hand off a heavily visited Western landscape, and an opinion piece arguing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum "has let down public lands and the nation." The pattern is scrutiny of who manages public land and on whose behalf.
• Community-level consequences. A record year of bear conflict around Red Lodge, Montana, is reported through the town's divided views on living with wildlife — not just as a wildlife statistic.
• Science and economics together. Hail research at a Colorado cold lab is framed as a multibillion-dollar problem worsening in a warming world, linking climate science to costs borne by residents.
• Health and extraction. Drilling in the Permian Basin is covered through studies tying it to radiation, air pollution and health risks in small New Mexico towns.
• Tribal and equity angles. Montana's push for better Indian education is treated as a Western policy story, with a reporter noting that good education runs on relationships.
• Accountability journalism beyond environment. Stories on corporate money in Montana politics, Wyoming's public-lands ballot measure, an Idaho wildfire tied to a ranch manager, and dropped voting charges against American Samoans show the same instinct: follow power and explain the regional stakes.

How to use it

If you are a student, researcher or resident trying to understand a Western land dispute, use HCN to find the political and community context around an agency decision, then go to primary documents — Forest Service notices, state investigations, court filings — for the specifics. If you want a sense of which public-lands fights are escalating, its most-popular and newsletter features are a reasonable starting filter. Subscriptions are offered, including a trial option, so you can test whether the coverage fits before committing.

For comparison, national outlets with dedicated environment desks include The New York Times and The Washington Post; regional public-lands coverage also appears at E&E News and The Associated Press. HCN's distinct value is the West-first lens — it assumes the region is the subject, not a backdrop.

What is the history and mission of High Country News?

High Country News (HCN) is a US-based nonprofit news outlet covering the American West, including public lands, water, wildlife, Indigenous affairs, energy, and rural communities. Its mission is to serve as an independent, in-depth source of journalism about the region’s environment, politics, and people—often focusing on stories that national outlets overlook.

H3 A brief history HCN was founded in 1970 in Lander, Wyoming, by a small group of journalists and environmental writers. It began as a newsletter for people concerned about the West’s land and resources, then grew into a full news magazine. Over the decades, it moved to Paonia, Colorado, and later expanded its digital reporting. It became a nonprofit in the 1980s, which helped it avoid the pressures of commercial ownership and focus on public-interest journalism.

H3 What it covers today Its homepage highlights stories about:

• Public lands and federal land management, such as Forest Service decisions.
• Indigenous education and tribal sovereignty.
• Wildlife conflicts, including bears and urban wildlife.
• Climate and environmental health, such as hail research and drilling impacts.
• Western politics, money in politics, and rural life.

H3 Who it’s for HCN is aimed at readers who live in or care about the West—ranchers, tribal members, conservationists, students, policymakers, and anyone who wants regional context rather than quick national headlines. It’s especially useful if you want a Western perspective on federal land and water policy.

H3 How its nonprofit model works As a nonprofit, HCN relies on subscriptions, donations, and grants rather than advertising alone. That model supports longer investigations and beat reporting. It also means readers may see subscription offers and trial issues, but the journalism is not tied to a single corporate owner.

H3 Next step If you want to see whether HCN fits your interests, start with its public-lands or Indigenous-affairs coverage, then decide whether a subscription or free trial is worth it for you. You can also compare it with other Western outlets like Example Western News if you know their official domain.