#EnvHist Worth Reading: May 2026

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Every month I carefully track the most popular and significant environmental history articles, videos, audio, and other items making their way through the online environmental history (#envhist) community. You can read all of our past #EnvHist Worth Reading lists right here. Here are my choices for items most worth reading from May 2026.

1) After a Century of Oil Extraction: Reclaiming the River at Norman Wells

During a two-month research stay in Fort Good Hope, Annie King, a settler researcher, examined the colonial, extractive impact of Imperial Oil’s Norman Wells Oilfield on the Indigenous K’asho Got’ine (Dene and Métis) people. In this brief for the Yellowhead Institute, King writes that for over a century, Imperial Oil and the Canadian government extracted billions in revenue, leaving the community with minimal financial benefits, polluted water, and a severe decline in herring—a loss Elders equate to violating the sacred cultural law of land reciprocity. As the oilfield approaches closure, King argues that the K’asho Got’ine must lead the reclamation, urging outsiders to finally listen to Indigenous guidance. For more about the Norman Wells Oilfield, check out “A Century of Petroleum Extraction at Tłegǫ́hłı̨ (Norman Wells)” by the Petroleum Histories Project Team.

2) Shark or sea monster? The Canadian marine mystery that still intrigues experts 90 years on

In this article for The Guardian, Leyland Cecco recounts a 1937 tale of a bizarre, 3-meter carcass that was pulled from a whale’s stomach in Haida Gwaii and that sparked legends of the “Cadborosaurus” sea monster. Cryptozoologists, Cecco shares, still argue it was an unknown mammal, pointing to its strange, serpent-like appearance. However, marine biologists attribute the find to the “pseudo-plesiosaur” phenomenon, where a decomposing basking shark’s collapsed gill-basket mimics a long neck and small head. With the original samples lost, the creature remains a mystery. Meanwhile, Cecco writes that today scientists emphasize that the real tragedy was the brutal 20th-century government eradication campaign that drove Canada’s actual gentle giants—the basking sharks—to near extinction.

3) Pursuing Happiness and the Public Good

It’s difficult to be park historian and not love all things Olmstead. Hence why I was excited to see this post from Adam Sowards. In 1865, Sowards writes, renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted penned his influential Yosemite Report while managing the newly preserved territory. Olmsted argued that immersing oneself in nature’s sublime beauty is scientifically vital for human health, intellect, and happiness. He championed strict preservation, minimizing artificial constructions to protect Yosemite’s dignity. Crucially, Olmsted framed the park as a political triumph of republican government over private monopoly. Writing just after the Civil War, Sowards shares that he declared that the state must secure equitable access to nature for all citizens, elevating public well-being above private profit. Though I may have some quibbles with this reading of any park (see hyperlink), it is refreshing to be reminded of a prominent public figure speaking about the public good in a sincere way. We are yearning collectively, I think, for such things right now.

4) Oil Daddy’s Unwanted Children | The Goose Media 🇨🇦

The Goose Media does great work, so subscribe if you haven’t yet. In this video, they investigate the massive environmental and financial liability posed by Alberta’s aging oil and gas infrastructure. With over 470,000 wells and 450,000 km of pipelines, the province faces an estimated $320 billion in total cleanup costs—a burden that the industry is failing to cover, despite the “polluter pays” principle. They talk about the failure of the Alberta Energy Regulator, the financial and health implications for these wells for Alberta citizens, and some of the dubious ways forward that the provincial government is currently proposing.

5) The US Is Running Out of Water (You Can See It on a Map)

This video from World Maps Online provides an accessible and visual explanation of how the Ogallala Aquifer enabled the intensive development of the American Great Plains and why its impending depletion is forcing a return to a landscape that historical figures once deemed uninhabitable for intensive agriculture. If you’re into maps and the Ogallala Aquifer, I highly suggest reading Andrew Watson’s 2020 article, “The Mirage of Industrial Agriculture: Fossil Fuels, Groundwater Irrigation, and Feedlots on the High Plains,” alongside this video. Watson covers a lot of this information and provides some great examples of HGIS methodology.

Feature Image: “Premier Notley announced funding boost to clean up old oil and gas sites” by Government of Alberta is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
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Jessica DeWitt

NiCHE Editor-in-Chief, Social Media Editor at Jessica M. DeWitt: Editing and Consulting
is an environmental historian of Canada and the United States, editor, project manager, consultant, and digital communications strategist. She earned her PhD in History from the University of Saskatchewan in 2019. She is an executive member, editor-in-chief, and social media editor for the Network in Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE). She is the Managing Editor for the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and Associate Editor for Environmental Humanities. Closer to home, she is the President of the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society, a Coordinating Team member of Showing Up for Racial Justice Saskatoon-Treaty Six, and a Conservation Advisory Committee member for the Meewasin Valley Authority. She focuses on developing digital techniques and communications that bridge the divide between academia and the general public in order to democratize knowledge access. You can find out more about her and her freelance services at jessicamdewitt.com.

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