Josh Holloway Teams Up With High West Whiskey To Help Preserve The American Prairie

Josh Holloway is an award-winning television star best known for his role as Sawyer on Lost. But it’s in the backcountry where his greatest purpose is found. “It’s my church,” explains the actor, who spends much of his downtime fly-fishing the wild rivers of Wyoming and Montana. So, when High West Distillery reached out with an opportunity to help protect American Prairie Reserve—the largest nature reserve in the lower 48—he pounced on the partnership.

The unique collaboration is built around the launch of a limited-time mobile game called Prairie Dash. Every time it’s played throughout the month of June, the distillery is donating a dollar to prairie preservation efforts; up to $50,000 in total. It involves a collection of “quick-time challenges” as experienced through the eyes of a pronghorn: the fastest land animal of the American West. Turns out, it’s a mammal with which Holloway has his own special connection.

He also enjoys a strong, longstanding connection with American whiskey…Though traditionally that has meant bourbon more so than rye. In an exclusive interview with Forbes, Holloway talks candidly about the Prairie Reserve partnership, and opens up about how both whiskey and the woods have helped shape his life and career.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Where are you now?

Sitting here in Wyoming. We just got to Jackson Hole. It was a good 18-hour drive from Santa Barbara. We went up past Vegas and then to Zion [National Park]. Talk about getting a view of nature—it was frickin’ beautiful.

So you already shared a connection with this part of the world before the High West partnership?

I discovered this part of the world a long time ago. [The Intermountain West] is the jewel of the world to me. I’ve been all over the world and this is where I could stay. If I’d only married a mountain woman instead of an island girl [laughs]. So I’m kind of stuck in Santa Barbara. But we have a cabin here and we come as much as we can—which is normally about 5-6 weeks in the summer…And then in the winter whenever we can.

What was the genesis of your collaboration with High West?

I’m not sure how they contacted me, except that I think it’s known [in the entertainment industry] that I do like bourbon…Because people have always been sending me bourbon throughout the years [laughs]. I do love it and I’m also an avid outdoorsman and fly fisherman. So that’s always been on the forefront of my concerns: nature and conservation. Anytime I can do anything that’s connected to that, I’m in!

High West contacted me and I said, ‘Absolutely, you’ve got this interactive game and anytime somebody plays it, it pays to conserve the west? Hell yes, I’m in.’

It’s funny because where I fish, I have to watch out for the pronghorn because they’re everywhere up there. I see them all the time. And it immediately made me think of fishing. I was just very, very interested in that right away.

Were you already a fan of High West’s products prior to this?

I love their whiskey. I like trying different flavors. And High West have a bunch of flavors. But I’m more of a bourbon guy than a rye guy. My go-to would be their American Prairie Bourbon.

The distillery is much more known for their ryes, though. Did this experience serve as a gateway, at all, into that category?

I like that you said that. Because I was normally pretty staunch about it—not liking rye. But they sent me their Double Rye, and I had [a few bottles] here in my cupboard…I’m certainly not going to let any whiskey go to waste [laughs]. So, I tried it and sure enough, I love it. Well, sh*t—they converted me. You are correct, sir! They brought me in and expanded my horizons.

Let’s talk about the American Prairie. This preserve is larger than Yellowstone, though it’s far lesser known.

Yes, it’s huge. That’s why I love this partnership. They are actively creating a huge preserve. I just drove across all this prairie, it was all covered by buffalo. It needs preserving, because without the balance they’re gone. I want to play as active a role as I can in that. I want to do much more of this work. Like, have you ever heard of Wild and Scenic? It was passed back in the ‘60s to preserve America’s rivers, and so far less than 1% of them are actually protected. But this is an amazing piece of legislature. If you can prove that it’s ‘wild and scenic’, it has to be preserved. So I’m going to keep going. Whoever wants to preserve nature, I’m in!

Did you have any regular drinking buddies on the set of Lost?

There was a few of us, actually. Not only the cast…But I’m big on the crew because I grew up on construction crews. So, oh, hell yes—there was a lot of bourbon drinking at the trucks after wrap. You put in a 15-hour day, the whole crew, and then a couple of us would go back—that first season, Ian Somerhalder and me really loved to go back to the truck with the boys and knock back some bourbon and that was a lot of fun!

And now [Ian Somerhalder’s] got his own bourbon brand…

Yeah, now he’s got his own, that bastard…He better send me a bottle! He keep’s saying he will…He sends me pictures of it. But I’m just sitting here drinking High West, so I’m cool [laughs]. Yeah, we used to love to sit around and knock back a few.

Well, maybe a little trade is in order?

Exactly. I’ll expand his horizons.