The Wild Line

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.