The Wild Idea

Jim Klug, Hal Herring & Alex Leone: River Access Is Not a Spectator Sport

In most Western states, wading a river through private land can get you arrested for trespassing. In Montana, it can't, and three guests join Bill and Anders to explain w

Christian Hunt & Kelly Cox: Can Wildlife Corridors Cross DC's Political Divide?

Parks and refuges were built to protect wildlife, but many function as islands, and the species that depend on them can't always survive within borders drawn decades befo

Adam Cramer: How Outdoor Recreation Became a Conservation Coalition

Adam Cramer co-founded and now leads the Outdoor Alliance, a coalition of ten organizations, including American Whitewater, the Access Fund, and Winter Wildlands Alliance

Dan Puskar: DC's Own National Park

Dan Puskar, executive director of the Rock Creek Conservancy, introduces listeners to Rock Creek Park, the 1,754-acre national park running through the heart of Washingto

Ryan Johnston: Building Cast Hope Through the Sport of Fly Fishing

Ryan Johnston has spent 24 years as a fly fishing guide, working rivers in California and Idaho and now Montana's Flathead Valley. In this episode, he shares stories from

Andy Mergen & Justin Pidot: How Do We Make Public Lands More Public?

Please take our listener survey! We'd love to hear from you. Are America's public lands getting more public, or less? Two of the sharpest legal minds in the field join

The Wild Line: 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 Anch

Lynn Scarlett & Matt Lee-Ashley: Can We Rewrite the Rules of Public Lands Policy?

What would it take to rewrite the rules of American conservation? Lynn Scarlett, former Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and Matt Lee-Ashley, Executive Director of Gro

The Wild Line: 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 Administ

Brooks Lamb: Land, Legacy, and Who Comes Next

Brooks Lamb has spent his career trying to answer a hard question: who will own rural America? As Special Advisor for Strategic Communications at American Farmland Trus

The Wild Line: 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 lead

Heather Hansman: Fierce Women Who Ignited America's Love for the Wild

For decades, the story of American conservation has been told almost entirely through male protagonists: Thoreau, Muir, Abbey. Journalist and author Heather Hansman joins

The Wild Line: 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 publi

Paul Hendricks, Jen McLaren & Dawn Mancini Moyer: Why Outdoor Brands Are Speaking Up for Public Lands

Congress has taken 65 separate actions against U.S. public lands this year, and three outdoor industry leaders are done staying quiet about it. Recorded live on a panel a

The Wild Line: 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 3

Meryl Harrell & Lisa Ronald: The future of stewarding our shared wild spaces

Wilderness visitation surged 75% during the pandemic and hasn't come back down. Federal staffing hasn't kept pace. Meryl Harrell of Friends of the Forest Service and Lisa

The Wild Line: Farm Bill Text Features Wilderness Designations, Interior Rolls Back Drilling Safeguards, and NPS Restricts Reporting on Fatalities

This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking Farm Bill wilderness designations for Virginia, Arkansas, and Illinois; Kevin Lilly's confirmation hearing before the Senate En

Fault Lines: Exploring Wilderness Climbing Management

For nearly 30 years, whether fixed anchors belong in wilderness was answered differently by every park superintendent who had to decide. In 2023, the National Park Servic

Dillon Osleger: The Hidden Histories Beneath America's Trails

Dillon Osleger is a geologist, conservationist, and trail builder whose debut book, Trail Work: Restoring the Paths and Stories of America's Public Lands, reads as both a

The Wild Line: New Wilderness Directives, Congress Approves $2 Billion for Parks, Former Big Bend Supervisors Fight Border Wall

This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking new federal directives reshaping wilderness management for climbing anchors and livestock grazing, a bipartisan bill that would