Necessary Journeys Finding Farley, Being Caribou, Y2Y Hike
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Books & Essays

Karsten has written award-winning books and essays for adults and children. They are available across Canada and the U.S. at fine bookstores and on-line sellers. Please consult (and support) your local bookstore whenever possible.

Being CaribouBooks for Adults:

Being Caribou - Canadian Edition

“Evocative and hard-hitting...”
- Farley Mowat, author Never Cry Wolf

(published by McClelland and Stewart in Canada (2006))

Being CaribouBeing Caribou - U.S. Edition

“Wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer plunges so deeply into the Arctic with the endangered porcupine caribou herd that he experiences a startling paradigm shift. For the sake of both the wildlife and our own children, we can only hope that this elegant dispatch from a grueling expedition isn't too late.”
- Jonathan Waterman, author of Where Mountains are Nameless

(published by The Mountaineers Books in the U.S. (2005))

Walking the Big WildWalking the Big Wild

“Heuer’s journey is exciting, and his passionate vision of a network of protected pathways connecting two pristine wilderness areas is inspiring.”
- Publishers Weekly

“Heuer [is] a man with a great imagination and an even greater dream.”
- Don Starkell, author of Paddle to the Amazon

(published by McClelland and Stewart in Canada (2000).

“There are journeys that choose you more than you choose them, necessary journeys that demand to be followed more than pursued. And so, my girlfriend at the time, Maxine Achurch, and I considered the prospect of a very long walk. I didn’t know exactly what would be involved, only that our journey would start in Yellowstone, end in the Yukon, and, following the wildest and least developed route possible, we would find out whether wildlife corridors existed or could be created among the parks and already protected lands. It was time to unite the theory with the land; to test a dream against reality.”
- Karsten Heuer, from the prologue, Walking the Big Wild

(published by The Mountaineers Books in the U.S. (2002))

Stay tuned for Karsten’s next adult book, Finding Farley, to be released Fall 2010

Books for Children:

Being CaribouBeing Caribou

Voted an Outstanding Science Trade Book by the US Children’s Book Council and National Science Teachers Association (2007).

"... a visually beautiful and most compelling book... A story that needed to be told has been very well told indeed."
- The Globe and Mail

"The writing is incredibly vivid as Heuer describes their encounters with wolves, grizzlies, and he makes real for readers the hallucinations toward theend of the journey when the caribou marched nearly nonstop. More mundane events--like the fact husband and wife smelled after six weeks with no showers--add a realistic humanity. ...[T]his is fascinating nonfiction that will be welcomed by students, report writers, animal lovers, and outdoor enthusiasts."
- Booklist, starred review, April 2007

"With a masterful touch, Heuer takes the story full circle, through the life cycle of the caribou, through the cycle of their journey across the landscape through the seasons, and through the cycle of their own discoveries - igniting young readers' minds to the idea that people and wild animals really can talk to each other, if only people would re-discover how to listen.."
- Lynn Martel, Rocky Mountain Outlook, July 2007. Read full review.

(published by Walker and Company (New York), distributed by Raincoast Books in Canada (2007)).

Essays:

The Big Squeeze

Can wildlife and hyperdevelopment coexist in the Bow Valley?
Published in ALBERTA VIEWS July/August 2009
Read Essay >

Following Farley

Inspired as a child by Farley Mowat’s books about Canada’s wildlife and wilderness, a park warden, his filmmaker wife, two-year-old son and dog embark on a cross-country journey by canoe, train and sailboat, retracing the places and stories featured in those celebrated books.
Published in CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC July/August 2008
Read Essay >

Caribou Camp

Published as an Environmental Essay by Patagonia. Read Essay >