Michael Schrantz

I’m delighted to be able to inform you that High Country News has finally flipped the switch on a whole new digital us — the culmination of more than a year’s worth of work spent documenting, consolidating, parsing, building, and migrating from antiquated technology to a suite of modern platforms that, well … do exactly what we’ve been pretending to do all along. You see, HCN had this habit of plugging any gaping digital holes with live humans.

This special issue distills High Country News’ mission: “to inform and inspire” our readers. Each article was commissioned, reported, written, edited and presented to send you off with a sense of collective power as we all work toward a more livable and just future.

In September, I asked you to send in your stories about encountering High Country News in the wild — the first time the magazine crossed your path or a noteworthy rendezvous with a reader. A hearty thanks to everyone who responded. We hope the stickers we sent spark yet more conversations and encounters. (If you want a sticker, write me at .) I was born and raised in South Carolina, and in 1998, the summer after my freshman year of college, I took a job at the Grand Canyon and headed West.