After migrating to Canada, a journalist reckons with the grief and gratitude of having left.
Krista Langlois
Krista Langlois is a former High Country News fellow and correspondent, and longtime freelance journalist. From her home on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, she writes and edits stories about biodiversity and the more-than-human world for bioGraphic magazine. Find her on Bluesky @cestmoiLanglois.
Posted inSeptember 2, 2019: In Bad Faith
The desert gets a biocrust skin graft
Without its cover of living microorganisms, the desert is eroding.
Posted inJune 10, 2019: 'None of this happened the way you think it did'
Wildfire escape routes? There’s (almost) an app for that.
Scientists are using crowdsourced data to help firefighters flee dangerous flames.
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
As citizen-led ballot initiatives soar, so have efforts to block them
In Idaho, a struggle over Medicaid expansion exposes the limits of forcing change via ballot measure.
Posted inNovember 26, 2018: Follow the fish
Tiny bits of plastic permeate our world
From alpine headwaters to city water supplies, the West is awash in microscopic pollutants.
Posted inJuly 23, 2018: Pay for Prey
Saving baby Jo from the smoke
A mother grapples with her decision to flee the 416 Fire with her infant daughter.
Posted inArticles
How whales converse with the world
Arctic people have been speaking with cetaceans for centuries — and scientists are finally taking note.
Posted inMarch 19, 2018: Desert, Divided
In Alaska, wildlands lose out to roads and drill rigs
An industry-friendly White House helps Sen. Lisa Murkowski score long-sought gains.
Posted inFebruary 19, 2018: Unfrozen North
The protectors of British Columbia’s coast
In the Great Bear Rainforest, Indigenous guardians enforce tribal and environmental laws.
Posted inArticles
Why the National Park advisory board imploded
An interview with board chairman Tony Knowles.
Posted inDecember 25, 2017: Bear Essentials
The price of a national park fee hike
The proposed increase in entrance fees reignites old questions about who should fund the West’s open spaces.
Posted inOctober 2, 2017: Following Ancient Footsteps
Indigenous knowledge helps untangle the mystery of Mesa Verde
Pueblo people and archaeologists work to understand the science of human migrations.
Posted inSeptember 18, 2017: No Hoax
Farming in Alaska is increasingly possible
Longer growing seasons and food scarcity are turning more people to agriculture.
Posted inSeptember 4, 2017: The Elwha, Unleashed
Down with the Glen Canyon Dam?
Activists claim that decommissioning the dam will save water and restore a wild canyon. Are they right?
Posted inJune 26, 2017: Personal Pilgrimage
Could the lure of trails salvage Alaska’s economy?
A trail along the Trans-Alaska pipeline could be the start of a booming recreation economy.
Posted inMarch 20, 2017: The Tree Ring
‘Look for something white’
Discovering the North through its most iconic birds.
Posted inApril 3, 2017: Firestorm
Have we underestimated the West’s super-floods?
Scientists warn that enormous floods may be more likely than we thought — and the Oroville Dam and others weren’t built to withstand them.
Posted inDecember 26, 2016: Obama and the West
How Obama began to mend broken tribal relations
Native American leaders say Obama’s legacy is this: He listened.
Posted inArticles
What Obama can actually do about Standing Rock
According to tribal law experts, not much.
Posted inNovember 28, 2016: A Weird and Perfect Wilderness
Alaska’s gas pipeline dreams
A decades-long plan to deliver the state’s gas reserves to the market remains in purgatory.