HCN everywhere
Far beyond our coverage area!
I was a bit too hasty back in July when I asked for your watershed address — the map that tracks your nearest body of water through each successive stream, river, lake and marsh, all the way from its place of origin to its eventual terminus.
I made the mistake of assuming we’d all be meeting on the West Coast — a slip that exposed my own blind spot as a product of California. Fortunately, my question drew some interesting responses from readers.
David Clark and Linda Rosen of Shawnee, Colorado, for example, pointed out that part of HCN’s coverage area also drains the other way.
“We live proudly under the Atlantic side of the Divide at 8,600 feet,” they wrote, detailing a watershed address that begins in an “unnamed gully” that flows into the North Fork of the South Platte River and eventually meets the Mississippi River before draining into the Gulf of Mexico and then the North Atlantic Ocean.
“We’ll finally see you at Cape Horn, that is, unless the Gulf Stream takes our water north,” David and Linda wrote. “Then we’ll meet in the Arctic Ocean.”
And, of course, HCN has readers far beyond our coverage area, as Pete Ranere reminded me, when he traced his own watershed address from Haynes Creek in New Jersey through Delaware Bay to the Atlantic.
Hank Lee lives in the Great Basin, near Utah’s Sevier River, which never reaches an ocean at all; its adventures are entirely restricted to Utah, and, for much of the last 150 years, its waters have been diverted before they reach the dry bed of Sevier Lake.
Next time, I’ll think twice before putting HCN readers in a box, even one the size of the Pacific Ocean.
It turned out to be more complicated than I thought. Still, I think it’s fascinating, so I encourage you to send me your own watershed address at [email protected].
Hellos, goodbyes
In July, we welcomed yet another group of talented interns and fellows to High Country News.
Natalia Mesa (she/her) joined us from Seattle following a stint as a correspondent at The Scientist magazine. Natalia, who holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Washington, has also contributed to Hakai and Scientific American, among other outlets.
Ollie Hancock (they/them) graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt, where they were the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, the Lumberjack. Ollie recently relocated to Portland, and their work has been featured in The New York Times, Them Magazine and Climbing Magazine.
Brooke Larsen (she/her) is our new Virginia Spencer Davis fellow. Based in Salt Lake City, she’s written extensively about climate justice and the environment for everyone from Torrey House Press to Sierra Magazine.
Shana Lombard (she/her) joined HCN after working as communications media specialist for the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe. Previously, she was a research assistant for the Native American Journalists Association. An enrolled member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, she lives in Grayland, Washington.
Every changing of the guard is accompanied by a farewell, which means it’s time to say goodbye to interns and fellows who’ve done some incredible work for us: Sarah Trent and Sam Shaw. Kylie Mohr, whose feature story on wildfires and recreation appeared in our August issue, will remain in our orbit as a correspondent.
We’ve also had to say adieu to some longtime staffers. Paige Blankenbuehler, who has led coverage for our South Desk as a senior editor, recently joined Vox as climate editor after nearly eight years with HCN, starting as an intern in the Paonia office. She will be deeply missed, but we wish her all the best in her new position.
Hannah Stevens, a member of our fundraising team and the manager of our Sustainers’ Club monthly giving program, has taken the reins of the Western Slope Conservation Center as its new executive director. It’s a huge win for Paonia’s local conservation organization, though we’ll miss Hannah’s skills and her dedication to growing HCN’s donor base.
Nick Martin, the senior editor for our Indigenous Affairs desk, moved on to National Geographic. A multi-hyphenate himself, Nick broke ground for us in our coverage of Indigenous literature and culture and shepherded blockbuster investigations while at HCN. We’re looking forward to seeing what he does next.
Question of the month
New stickers are here! Thanks again for your suggestions. We have a lot more to choose from now. Write [email protected] with a memory of encountering High Country News in the wild — via a sticker, a conversation, a special event, etc. — and we’ll send you some of our new designs.
Michael Schrantz is the marketing communications manager for High Country News based in Santa Fe. Email him at [email protected] or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.
