Hal Herring

Herring is a writer and outdoorsman, father, and forestry contractor. He published his first feature story in Field & Stream in 1999 and has been publishing steadily and prolifically ever since, for everybody from the Atlantic to state wildlife magazines.

Highlights

• Covers conservation and environment, public lands and policy, firearms, hunting, mountaineering

• Certified concealed-carry permit holder in state of Montana

Education

Herring graduated from the University of Alabama in 1987, having also attended Tulane University for two years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies, with a minor in Spanish. He has a Master of Fine Arts in writing from Warren Wilson College’s External Degree Program, awarded in 1996.

Experience

Herring’s first published journalism story was about the (extremely hot) controversy over game farming and captive big-game trophy shooting in Montana. That story led him to Field & Stream in the days when writers still mailed manuscripts from the local post office. The research for that article coincided with the first discoveries of Chronic Wasting disease (CWD) on these same game farms, which led him to write many stories and reports on CWD for F&S. He wrote for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation magazine, Bugle, for many years, covering the biggest stories related to elk, and thus related to conservation and politics in the West—everything from wolf reintroduction to energy development to personal essays on guns, dogs, hunting, fatherhood, and ethics.Herring has appeared on television shows, including an Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. He was the leading voice and profile in Patagonia’s 2019 feature documentary Public Trust, about the current and historical movements to privatize and exploit America’s public lands. He has done other short films on that subject and was also part of the documentary about the Bundy takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife refuge in 2016, in a film called No Man’s Land.Herring is the host of the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Podcast and Blast. They’ve recorded 126 episodes so far, from Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia to the gunsmiths at Beretta Firearms, from dog trainer Durrell Smith in Georgia to dall sheep hunters in Alaska. The podcast has a dedicated listenership of around 10,000.His book project, titled Journeys on America’s Public Lands, is due for delivery in 2023.

Special Project

Herring is currently at work on a book project about the history, present, and future of public lands in America.

Notable Work

• Seasons Over Bear

  Field and Stream

• The Darkness at the Heart of Malheur

  Long Form