The members of the High Country News Board of Directors recently welcomed Chris Winter to their ranks. Chris is an attorney and heads the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment at Colorado Law School, an environmental law center at CU Boulder with close ties to Indigenous communities.
Chris, who grew up in Seattle, founded a public-interest environmental law firm in Portland, where he worked on conservation and environmental justice issues, including collaborations with Alaska Native communities. He’s also a climber; his last job was heading the Access Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to keeping climbing areas open to the public and “protecting the climbing environment.” He told us he appreciates our work “at the intersection of public lands, equity issues and climate change.”
Chris has a personal connection to one of our recent cover stories: His grandparents moved to Corinne, Utah, to avoid being placed in a Japanese incarceration camp, and later settled in Brigham City. (Some Japanese Americans avoided government lock-up by accepting “voluntary evacuations” to communities outside the government-designated “military areas” along the West Coast, and several of those were in Utah.)
We’re thrilled to have Chris on our team.
You’re invited to apply!
If you’re new to High Country News, or have never had a chance to look behind the scenes, HCN is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit. Our board of directors works with the senior management team to ensure that the business is responsibly managed and financially sound. Our board members, who are drawn from across the West, provide expertise, insights, and personal and professional networks that help us stay resilient and relevant to diverse communities around the region.
Board responsibilities include:
• Setting HCN’s mission, and helping to articulate our vision and values
• Hiring, overseeing and supporting the executive director
• Participating in strategic planning and monitoring HCN’s progress toward organizational goals
• Determining which programs are consistent with HCN’s mission and monitoring each program’s effectiveness
• Assisting in developing the annual budget, approving it, and ensuring that proper financial controls are in place
• Ensuring that the organization’s activities conform with all applicable laws, rules and ethical norms
It’s worth noting that board members do not get involved with the practice of journalism on the level of individual stories, though they do help set HCN’s editorial direction through strategic planning and the hiring and oversight of the executive director. Board members are also welcome to share story ideas and provide feedback (negative or positive) to our executive director and editor-in-chief. But decisions about which stories to pursue and publish, as well as how to execute them, are made by the staff.
Much of the board’s work is done in committees that meet regularly (some monthly, some only a few times each year) to discuss HCN’s governance, finances and fundraising, and to oversee our annual audit and our 401k retirement plan. The entire board meets three times each year — once or twice in person at different locations around the West, and the rest over video conference.
At present, we are particularly interested in prospective board members with expertise in:
• Business development, digital media or journalism
• Organizational governance, strategy or leadership
• Fundraising, finance or investment
In order to create a board that represents the West’s diverse geography and communities, we are currently looking for board members who reside in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. And we welcome applicants from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, including Black, Indigenous and people of color, women, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ people.
You do not need prior experience in nonprofit news or significant philanthropic resources to make a meaningful contribution.
For more information, and to apply, go to hcn.org/about/jobs. To learn more about our current board members, go to hcn.org/about/board-of-directors. And if you know someone who would be a great addition to the board, email us at dearfriends@hcn.org with your recommendation.
Hoisting a glass to HCN
In mid-April, a group of HCN editors and writers attended the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual conference, which is basically old home week for HCN staff, freelancers and alums. Several of our editors moderated panel discussions or spoke at the conference, which was held in Tempe, Arizona, and had a special focus on heat, water and growth. The team capped it all off with a “Friends of High Country News” happy hour at a local brew pub. (Naturally!)
We welcome reader letters. Email High Country News at editor@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.
This article appeared in the June 2025 print edition of the magazine with the headline “HCN welcomes our newest board member.”
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