Sarah Trent, Author at High Country News https://www.hcn.org A nonprofit independent magazine of unblinking journalism that shines a light on all of the complexities of the West. Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:14:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2-32x32.png Sarah Trent, Author at High Country News https://www.hcn.org 32 32 229054741 Get to know the Pacific brant https://www.hcn.org/issues/56-12/get-to-know-the-pacific-brant/ Sun, 01 Dec 2024 08:45:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=329825

Tech advances are transforming knowledge and conservation of North America's favorite goose.

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]]> 329825 Get to know the western bumblebee https://www.hcn.org/issues/56-9/get-to-know-the-western-bumblebee/ Sun, 01 Sep 2024 07:25:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=327454

Bombus occidentalis may soon be the West’s new face for insect conservation.

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]]> 327454 After historic floods, the safety net failed small farmers https://www.hcn.org/issues/56-8/after-historic-floods-the-safety-net-failed-small-farmers/ Thu, 01 Aug 2024 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=326860 Picoso Farm in Gilroy, California, is still trying to recover from a series of devastating floods.

Climate disasters are killing the largest subset of California farms. Government programs are too.

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]]> 326860 The dangers of PFAS — and of downplaying their ubiquity https://www.hcn.org/issues/56-3/the-dangers-of-pfas-and-of-downplaying-their-ubiquity/ Fri, 01 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=322782 Sarah Ferris holds a flyer she received last year from the city of Vancouver informing residents that PFAS had been found in the city’s wells.

Even well-meaning officials often provide inadequate or misleading information, putting communities at higher risk.

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]]> 322782 To protect wild bumblebees, people have to find them first https://www.hcn.org/issues/55-10/wildlife-to-protect-wild-bumblebees-people-have-to-find-them-first/ Mon, 25 Sep 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/wildlife-to-protect-wild-bumblebees-people-have-to-find-them-first/

For six years, hundreds of volunteers have counted bumblebees across the Northwest. Their data is shaping pollinator conservation nationwide.

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]]> 225749 Finding a fix for ‘forever chemicals’ https://www.hcn.org/issues/55-8/north-pollution-finding-a-fix-for-forever-chemicals/ Wed, 26 Jul 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/north-pollution-finding-a-fix-for-forever-chemicals/ Cole Benak’s log chart and labels for water samples.

Tests found PFAS in nearly all the public drinking water in Vancouver, Washington. The city is testing a solution that could take years — and more than $170 million — to build.

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]]> 226263 A quarter of rural water systems likely contain ‘forever chemicals’ https://www.hcn.org/articles/pollution-a-quarter-of-rural-and-private-water-systems-likely-contain-forever-chemicals/ Wed, 19 Jul 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/pollution-a-quarter-of-rural-and-private-water-systems-likely-contain-forever-chemicals/

USGS research confirms widespread PFAS contamination in drinking water — including in rural communities and private wells that are almost never tested.

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]]> 201843 It’s summer. But in the Northwest, spring never showed https://www.hcn.org/articles/north-climate-change-its-summer-but-in-the-northwest-spring-never-showed/ Thu, 22 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/north-climate-change-its-summer-but-in-the-northwest-spring-never-showed/

As spring gets weirder, warmer and less stable, water supplies, ecosystems and agriculture are getting out of whack.

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]]> 199316 Yes, 90 degrees can be dangerous https://www.hcn.org/articles/north-public-health-yes-90-degrees-can-be-dangerous/ Fri, 19 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/north-public-health-yes-90-degrees-can-be-dangerous/ During a heat wave last July, Gabe DeBay, medical services officer with the Shoreline Fire Department, checks the blood pressure of an unhoused man at a tent encampment in Shoreline, Washington. Heat in the Pacific Northwest is already higher than normal this year. Unhoused people and outdoor workers are among those at highest risk in more moderate, early heat.

From a jump in ER visits and gun violence to fears for maternal health, the Northwest’s May heat wave shows the dangers of more moderate, early heat waves.

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]]> 199517 Will the new U.N. High Seas Treaty help protect Pacific salmon? https://www.hcn.org/articles/north-fish-will-the-new-u-n-high-seas-treaty-help-protect-pacific-salmon/ Thu, 13 Apr 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/north-fish-will-the-new-u-n-high-seas-treaty-help-protect-pacific-salmon/ The northern Pacific Ocean, from the NOAA Bell M. Shimada by Dr. Laurie Weitkamp.

In March, conservationists worldwide celebrated the historic agreement, which governs the ocean waters where salmon spend most of their lives.

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