Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Express reporters win NNA award

Writing team receives first-place national award for ?Redefining Wilderness? series


Gregory Foley and Greg Stahl were recognized by the National Newspaper Association this fall for their work on a series of articles about a plan to designate wilderness in the Boulder and White Cloud mountains. Photo by Willy Cook

By EXPRESS STAFF

Idaho Mountain Express reporters Gregory Foley and Greg Stahl this fall received top honors in the nation?s foremost newspaper contest for their collaborative work on a series of groundbreaking environmental-policy articles published in 2003.

In the 2004 National Newspaper Association ?Better Newspaper Contest,? Foley and Stahl garnered first-place in the category for ?Best Investigative or In-Depth Series? among large, non-daily newspapers nationwide.

The NNA award recognized a series titled ?Redefining Wilderness? as the best in-depth series of news stories produced in 2003 by any non daily with a circulation of 10,000 or more.

The reporters accepted the award this fall, after the Better Newspaper Contest results were announced in September at the National Newspaper Association?s annual convention, held this year in Denver.

?This project was both interesting and important,? Stahl said. ?At every corner, with every new interview, we discovered that the public land in people?s backyards is extremely important to them. Central Idaho really is a place where people define themselves by their rugged surroundings. Management of those rugged surroundings, in turn, is something people take very seriously.?

Published in July and August 2003, the ?Redefining Wilderness? series provided an in-depth look at a pending plan by Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, to establish nearly 300,000 acres of wilderness in the Boulder and White Cloud mountains, north of Sun Valley. The plan calls for balancing wilderness designations with a series of initiatives to boost the economy of Custer County, a region that has suffered in recent years through the boom-and-bust cycles of mining and timber harvesting.

Simpson?s proposal, called the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act, was submitted to Congress in October, just before federal legislators recessed for the year. He is expected to resubmit the proposed legislation when Congress reconvenes next January.

Foley?who in 2002 earned an NNA award for his work reporting on a long-abandoned tungsten mine in Northern California?said the ?Redefining Wilderness? series was important because it provided Central Idaho residents with critical information on Simpson?s plan as it was being developed.

?The Boulder and White Cloud mountains mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people,? Foley said. ?Redefining how the land is managed and used could have a remarkable influence on the lives of Idaho residents and visitors for many generations.?

The three-part series by Foley and Stahl earlier this year received a second-place award from the Society of Professional Journalists Northwest Chapter.

The series included three primary stories on the proposed plan and potential economic impacts, as well as numerous sidebar stories on flora, fauna, recreation, history and mining.

The ?Redefining Wilderness? series can be read on the Idaho Mountain Express Web site, accessed by visiting www.sunvalleycentral.com.




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