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The Wild Line

Wild Idea Media

The podcast where land stories are the lead stories. Hosted by Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds, The Wild Line is a quick
Friday digest of the week’s top conservation and public lands policy news in plain language so our community stays informed, engaged and ready to act.

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#74
Friday · 24 min
Senate Permitting Reform Bill Advances, Interior Eyes Land Sales and Agency Reorganizations, Fareforward to Marcia Argust
The Senate's sweeping permitting reform bill cleared a 73 to 25 cloture vote, and conservation and tribal groups say it would rewrite NEPA, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and historic preservation law. We also cover a proposed BLM land use planning rewrite, Interior's plan to shrink the federal estate, a possible Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service reorganization, the Supreme Court's Big Bend ruling, record floods in Colorado, Utah, and Georgia, and a farewell to Marcia Argust. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#73
November 6 · 10 min
The Votes Are In, But What Do They Mean for Lands, Water, and Wildlife?
Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterms, and we ask the Southern Environmental Law Center's Nat Mund what that could mean for public lands, the Roadless Rule repeal, and data centers. We also break down conservation ballot measures in Colorado, Massachusetts, and California, and the Trust for Public Land's estimate of $19.4 billion in voter-backed conservation funding. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#72
October 30 · 13 min
Last Call on the Ambler Mining Road, Second Cook Inlet Lease Sale Planned, Bear Baiting Returns to Alaska Preserves
The public comment period on the first mine proposed in Alaska's Ambler Mining District closes Monday, and we walk through what's at stake along the proposed 211-mile Ambler Road, plus a new film that follows its route on foot. We also cover reporting on Russian financing behind an Alaska LNG startup, a second Cook Inlet lease sale, data center power lines headed through West Virginia, proposed methane rollbacks, USDA letters asking states to reconsider wolf protections, and the Forest Service early exit deadline. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee. Find the full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#71
October 23 · 11 min
Chiricahua Named Newest National Park, BLM Hopes to Drill Utah Refuge, Private Equity Eyes Yellowstone
Chiricahua National Monument is now Chiricahua National Park, and the Bureau of Land Management wants to open roughly 5,200 acres of minerals beneath Utah's Ouray National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. This week we also cover Blackstone-controlled Tallgrass Energy's $105 million gift to Yellowstone Forever, a Montana "super range" announced without a location, a proposed Forest Service travel management change, a Senate permitting deal Defenders of Wildlife says would cripple the Endangered Species Act, and the Justice Department's Supreme Court push to resume border construction in Big Bend. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#70
October 16 · 21 min
Congress Eyes Permitting Reform, Court Steps in on USFS Reorg, Monuments Case Begins Again
Congress is moving a bipartisan permitting reform package that conservation groups say would approve virtually all destructive public lands projects without meaningful environmental review. A federal court halted the United States Forest Service reorganization, and Judge Ana Reyes ordered a stop to tree removal at East Potomac Public Golf Course after hundreds of trees came down despite her notice requirement. Also this week: Judge Tanya Chutkan reopened litigation over the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monument reductions, and NOAA Fisheries funded six habitat restoration projects through the National Fish Habitat Partnership. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#69
October 9 · 8 min
Roadless Rescission Plan Draws One Million+ Comments, Huge Judicial Victory For Big Bend, Saying Goodbye to Seldom Seen Smith
More than a million public comments are in against the Roadless Rule rescission, according to the coalition leading the opposition, and a separate analysis found 99 percent of comments oppose Forest Service travel management changes. This week we also cover the federal injunction halting heavy border construction in Big Bend National Park, a second Montana House sponsor for A River Runs Through It Act, and a new lawsuit over an oil-hauling road through Utah's Gate Canyon. We close by remembering river guide Ken Sleight, the inspiration for Seldom Seen Smith, and longtime National Wildlife Federation leader Jim Lyon. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#68
October 2 · 8 min
Grand Teton Site Scouting for MLB Game, EPA Ends 2024 Carbon Standards, and DHS Lifts Big Bend Construction Pause
The EPA finalized the repeal of most 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards for power plants, eliminating key climate regulations and saving an estimated $310 billion while potentially causing up to $476 billion in health damages. The Department of Homeland Security also ended its pause on border barrier construction within Big Bend National Park, and a lawsuit was filed by landowners and conservation groups challenging the government's border wall plans. Reports indicate the Trump administration was approached about hosting a baseball game at Grand Teton National Park, though officials called the scouting claims incorrect and noted no permits were granted. The Forest Service is closing the final comment window for the proposed rescission of the Roadless Rule, with The Wilderness Society urging public participation. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#67
September 25 · 12 min
Wilderness Week in Washington, an Executive Order Opening Monuments to Hunting, and a Public Lands Day Thank-You to Rangers
This week, a new executive order opens national monuments like Castle Mountains and Craters of the Moon to hunting and sets a 60-day clock on river permit lotteries, while Interior blocks more than $25 million in National Park Service partner funding. We also cover former wildlife agency heads warning that Interior's proposed Endangered Species Act rule ignores basic science, a coalition of 21 state attorneys general suing over new ESA rules, and a lawsuit over a missed deadline for two West Coast pond turtles. Anders reports from Wilderness Week in Washington, DC, and Bill closes with a Public Lands Day message for the rangers who steward our public lands. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#66
September 18 · 12 min
Roadless Rule Comment Period Extended, Senate Ag Approves Farm Bill, Utah Monuments Threatened By Mining Claims
This week, the House Natural Resources Committee advances a bill that would gut environmental review for forest management projects, and the Senate Agriculture Committee finally passes a Farm Bill carrying both new wilderness and weakened conservation funding. We also cover a leaked Fish and Wildlife Service memo narrowing the Endangered Species Act's definition of "take," new mining claims filed inside a shrunken Bears Ears National Monument, an extended comment period on the Roadless Rule rescission, a euthanized Grand Teton bear, and the passing of writer Annie Dillard. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#65
September 11 · 16 min
Montana Eyes New Wilderness, USFS Shutters Research Stations, Cumberland Island Invites Public Comment
This week, Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke introduces a 430,000-acre wilderness and recreation bill named for A River Runs Through It, and the House Natural Resources Committee opens an investigation into the influence of eighteen environmental nonprofits. We also cover the Forest Service's closure of 23 research stations, a contested Cumberland Island visitor plan and land exchange now open for public comment, a House vote delaying North Atlantic right whale protections, new rollbacks targeting wolves and wetlands, and a court win keeping bison on Montana public lands. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#64
September 4 · 15 min
Chinook Salmon Return to Mount St. Helens, a Deadly Grand Canyon Flood, and a Renewed Fight for Bears Ears
This week, Chinook salmon return to the Mount St. Helens watershed for the first time since the 1980 eruption, while the Trump administration weighs handing a piece of Yosemite National Park to a private developer and conservation groups head back to court over the reduced Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. We also cover a deadly flash flood that shut down the bottom of the Grand Canyon, a halted data center on Nevada public land, a rollback of national park crowd control, and a Climate Week panel on Southern Appalachian wildlife. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee.
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#63
August 28 · 8 min
Endangered Species Rallies Head to the Gulf, Forest Service Travel Rule Upheaval, and Nevada Takes on the Colorado River Cuts
This week, the Forest Service proposes to flip its travel management rule, opening national forests to motorized vehicles everywhere except specifically closed areas. Nevada sues the federal government over Colorado River cuts that could slash its water allocation by up to 71 percent annually, and Gulf Coast advocates rally this weekend to defend endangered species from an oil-and-gas exemption to the Endangered Species Act. We also cover record glyphosate use on California's national forests, a reshuffling of dozens of senior career staff at the Interior Department, a Texas music compilation raising money for the Big Bend Conservation Alliance, and the close of National Park Week. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee.
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#62
August 21 · 15 min
USDA Moves to Rescind the Roadless Rule, Mining Claims Surface in Downsized Utah Monuments, and Minnesota Acts to Protect the Boundary Waters
This week, USDA opens a public comment period on its plan to rescind the Roadless Rule, which protects close to 45 million acres of National Forest. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issues new state-level protections for the Boundary Waters watershed, and mining claims surface inside Utah's downsized Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments as Senator Mike Lee moves to challenge Bears Ears' management plan. We also cover a federal court blocking a road through Alaska's Izembek refuge, a paused CBP border project in Big Bend, scrutiny of a Forest Service official's firefighting request near his own ranch, proposed winter access changes at Glacier National Park, and a plug for the new podcast On Common Ground: An American Inheritance. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#61
August 14 · 14 min
Final Hours to Comment on Wilderness Policy, a Data Center Eyes National Park Land, and Bulldozers Carve Through Big Bend
This week, USDA nears a draft decision on rescinding the Roadless Rule, which protects 48 million acres of National Forest land, and today is the final day to comment on a related Interior Department review of wilderness management policy. President Trump has nominated Project 2025 co-author Dennis Kirk as Interior's inspector general, and new reporting reveals the National Park Service is weighing a land swap that would clear the way for data center development inside Virginia's Prince William Forest Park. We also cover a muted offshore oil lease auction in the Gulf of Mexico, continued construction on the Big Bend National Park border road, and honor the wildland firefighters killed in this summer's intense fire season. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com. Support our show with a one-time or recurring gift through Buy Me a Coffee.
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#60
August 7 · 17 min
A New Management Plan for the Colorado River, BLM Approves Data Center on Public Land, and Forest Service Initiates ICE Raid
This week, the Bureau of Reclamation releases a new 10-year Colorado River management plan mandating major water cuts across Arizona, California, and Nevada, while the Bureau of Land Management approves the first data center on BLM-managed public land without a new environmental review. The Forest Service opens a 30-day comment period on a proposed rare earth mine near Devils Tower, and new reporting reveals Forest Service Law Enforcement participated in an ICE raid along North Carolina's Wilson Creek. We also cover escalating fallout over the shrunken Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments, NOAA's denial of Endangered Species Act protection for smalltail sharks, Texas lawmakers pushing back on border construction through Big Bend National Park, and new polling on public attitudes toward wildlife policy. Find the full show notes and links at thewildidea.com.
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#59
July 31 · 9 min
DOGE Cuts Exacerbate Wildfire, Interior Cancels Endangered Species Protections, and Alaska Judge Dismisses Dalton Highway Suit
This week, a Senate committee drops most of its wilderness, national park, and wild and scenic river bills in favor of energy permitting measures, a federal judge in Anchorage clears the way for transferring more than 2 million acres along the Dalton Highway corridor to the State of Alaska, while the Interior Department cancels the Endangered Species Act's blanket 4(d) rule and NOAA rejects a bid to expand North Atlantic right whale critical habitat. We also cover new reporting linking paused DOGE wildfire-prevention funding to the fires burning across northern Minnesota, the removal of tribal signage at the newly shrunken Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Monuments, and the closing comment period on proposed changes to the Forest Service Directives System. Plus: peak viewing at Katmai's Brooks Falls bear cam and a relaunched wilderness management certificate program at the University of Montana. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#58
July 24 · 20 min
Proposed NHPA Changes Undermine Tribes, Administration Targets Chaco Canyon, Okefenokee Makes Bid for UNESCO Designation
This week, proposed federal rules would gut tribal consultation and historic-preservation protections under the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Trump Administration opens a comment period on drilling near Chaco Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We also cover a nearly one-third cut to Canada lynx critical habitat, a Montana Land Board grazing policy widely read as targeting American Prairie's bison herd, and a busy week for the House Natural Resources Committee. Plus: two Forest Service employees kidnapped at gunpoint in Northern California, a flash flood that killed five members of one family in Utah, a Mother Jones investigation into wildfire betting markets, criticism of a Blue Ridge Parkway logging plan, wildfires closing the entire Boundary Waters, and Okefenokee's bid for UNESCO World Heritage status. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#57
July 17 · 23 min
Trump Guts Utah Monuments, Admin Rewrites 'Harm,' Red Wolves Recover as Grizzlies and Whales are Targeted
This week, President Trump signs executive orders cutting Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments by nearly 3 million acres combined, over tribal leaders' objections that they were never consulted. Federal agencies rescind the Endangered Species Act's core habitat protection, and Interior proposes returning grizzly bear management to Western states. We also cover a court ruling on grizzly and bull trout habitat in Montana, a House committee vote on whale protections, new funding for endangered species recovery, and rare good news: four litters of wild red wolf pups born in North Carolina. Plus, Ferncliff begins removing a dam to restore an Arkansas stream, and we mark a fourth death tied to Colorado's Gold Mountain Fire. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#56
July 10 · 18 min
A New Tracker for Public Land Comment Periods, Eastern States Invest in Wildlife Crossings, and Forest Service Retirees Join Suit to Stop Reorg
This week, the Bureau of Land Management proposes its first grazing rule overhaul since 1995, covering 155 million acres of Western public land and sharply limiting public participation in permit decisions. A coalition sues to block the Forest Service's largest restructuring in a century, and we track new wildlife crossing funding in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, a wildfire burning into a 50-year-untouched Colorado wilderness, and a new free tool for tracking public lands comment periods. We also remember David Page of the Winter Wildlands Alliance. Full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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#55
July 3 · 17 min
A Genomics Pact for Endangered Species, an Oregon Timber Lawsuit, and a Farewell to National Parks Traveler
This week, the Forest Service opens a comment period on a proposed rule that would narrow public input into how national forests are managed, and the window closes July 31. The Interior Department signs a partnership with "de-extinction" company Colossal Biosciences on species genomics, raising the question of whether the tools complement or replace habitat-based recovery. A new lawsuit tests how far Congress can stretch the Congressional Review Act against land management plans. We also cover a volunteer-built replacement for the shuttered Climate.gov, the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, and hard news from the fire line in Colorado alongside the closing of National Parks Traveler. Find the full show notes and links at our website, thewildidea.com.
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