Shows / The Wild Idea
The Wild Idea
The Wild Idea is an exploration of the intersection of wild nature and our own human nature. The hosts, Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds, through conversations with experts and thought leaders will dive into the ways that humans have both embraced and impact the function and vitality of our remaining wild places.
Episodes
- The Wild Idea
Robert Lester & Ben Kaden: Sharing the Spectacle of the Brooks Range, One Step At a Time
Two filmmakers set out to walk all 211 miles of the proposed Ambler Road through Alaska's Brooks Range, and the plan fell apart by day five. Robert Lester and…
- The Wild Idea
Dylan McDowell: Inside the Network Connecting State Lawmakers on Environmental Policy
Most state lawmakers work with little or no staff, some for almost no pay, and on Election Day 83% of state legislative seats are on the ballot. Dylan…
- The Wild Idea
Bob Marshall: The Haunting of Bill’s House
It's Halloween week, and Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds are in the same room in Missoula with a Ouija board. Within minutes, Bill is performing the ghost of…
- The Wild Idea
Sam Forstag: Smoke Jumping, Union Organizing, and the Fight for Montana’s First District
Sam Forstag spent eight years on the fire line, four of them as a smoke jumper, before he organized the response when the federal government cut the people who…
- The Wild Idea
Cam Brensinger: NEMO’s Road from a Bivy Bag on Mount Washington to Recyclable Gear
Cam Brensinger sewed a prototype from a bicycle inner tube after a bivy bag failed him on Mount Washington: this conversation explores what a gear maker owes…
- The Wild Idea
Marshall Johnson: Conservation Ranching and the Birds That Depend on It
Marshall Johnson, Chief Conservation Officer for the National Audubon Society, joins Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds to discuss how the Conservation Ranching…
- The Wild Idea
Amy Bowers Cordalis: Indigenous-Led Conservation and the Salmon That Came Home
Amy Bowers Cordalis is a Yurok Tribe member, attorney, and executive director of Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group. She helped lead the fight to…
- The Wild Idea
Mark Haggerty & Megan Lawson: The Economics of Public Lands and Rural Prosperity
Some of the highest-output rural counties in the country are losing population, even as public lands get pitched as the answer to everything from housing to…
- The Wild Idea
Fitz Cahall: The Million-Signature Push to Save Public Lands
Fitz Cahall has spent nearly twenty years telling other people's outdoor stories as the host of The Dirtbag Diaries. Now he's leading one himself: Save Public…
- 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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
The Wild IdeaThe 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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
The Wild IdeaThe 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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
The Wild IdeaThe 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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
The Wild IdeaThe 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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
The Wild IdeaThe 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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
The Wild IdeaThe 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 Wild Idea
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…
- The Wild Idea
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…
The Wild IdeaThe 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…
- The Wild Idea
Sheena Pate: The Rivers That Launched the Wild and Scenic Act
The Three Forks of the Flathead River in northwest Montana didn't just earn Wild and Scenic designation — they inspired the law that made it possible. In the…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Trump Targets Recommended Wilderness, Lee Launches Attack on Roadless, Interior Designates New Trails
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking a lackluster oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a draft Forest Service memo that could…
- The Wild Idea
Kaitlin de Varona: Stewardship as a Form of Advocacy
Kaitlin de Varona is the executive director of Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards (SAWS), the nonprofit that has spent more than a decade building a…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Trump Repeals Motorized Protections, the CRA comes for Utah, Appropriators Slash Funding for National Parks
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking the White House's repeal of decades-old off-road vehicle protections on public lands, House appropriations cuts to…
- The Wild Idea
Jaime Loucky: 60 Years of Stewarding Trails in the Evergreen State
Jaime Loucky is the CEO of the Washington Trails Association, one of the largest trail stewardship nonprofits in the United States. The organization now…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Wildlife Fare Well in Transportation Bill, Park Fees Redirected to DC, a Warning on Wildfire Season
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking a new bill to nullify the Gulf of Mexico Endangered Species Act exemption, $67 million in national park entrance…
- The Wild Idea
Tracy Stone-Manning Returns: Don't Mourn, Organize
The federal lands fight has shifted since Tracy Stone-Manning last sat down with Bill and Anders in June 2025. The workforce cuts she warned about have…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Pearce Confirmed for BLM, Cyanide Bombs Return to Public Lands, Kash Patel Dives Pearl Harbor
This week on The Wild Line, we’re tracking the Senate confirmation of Steve Pearce as Bureau of Land Management director, the Trump administration’s…
- The Wild Idea
John Leshy: The Hollowing Out of America’s Public Lands
John Leshy has spent sixty years tracking the arc of federal public land policy, which makes his assessment of the current moment unusually grounded and…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Public Lands Rule Rescinded, Right Whale and Roadless Rule Hearings Loom, and Wins in Colorado and New Mexico
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking the Bureau of Land Management's rescission of the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, Interior Secretary Doug…
- The Wild Idea
Gregg Treinish & Lara Birkes: Turning Adventure into Conservation Data
In this episode, Bill and Anders sit down with Greg Treinish, founder of Adventure Scientists, and Lara Birkes, the organization's newly appointed executive…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Pearce Nomination Heads to Senate Floor, American Prairie Permit Battle, Alaska Land Transfer, and Ted Turner's Legacy
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking the Senate's imminent floor vote on Steve Pearce's nomination as BLM Director, Montana's escalating campaign against…
- The Wild Idea
Autumn Gillard & Steve Bloch: Tribal Voices and the Fight to Save Grand Staircase - Escalante
In this episode, Bill and Anders are joined by Autumn Gillard, coordinator for the Grand Staircase Intertribal Coalition, and Steve Bloch, legal director for…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Trump Pulls NPS Nominee, Appalachian Groups Sue Over Corridor H, and the Forest Service Embraces Glyphosate
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking the withdrawal of the Trump administration's National Park Service nominee, a Forest Service plan to spray…
- The Wild Idea
Dalton George: The Hellbender, The High Country, and the Fight to Keep Appalachia Wild
Dalton George is the mayor of Boone, North Carolina and the national organizing director for the Endangered Species Coalition. He came up through community…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Advocates Notch a Win for Endangered Species, the Forest Service Considers Chainsaws and Mining in Wilderness
This week on The Wild Line, we’re tracking a major Endangered Species Act victory on Capitol Hill, proposed Forest Service rule changes that would open…
- The Wild Idea
Jessica Howell-Edwards & Dani Purvis: Fighting for the Wild Soul of Cumberland Island
Cumberland Island National Seashore is one of the most ecologically rich and historically layered landscapes on the American East Coast, and it faces a pivotal…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: GOP Approves Mining in the Boundary Waters, USFS Faces Questions on Reorganization, SELC Sues the God Squad
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking the Senate's passage of a Congressional Review Act resolution to enable mining in the headwaters of the Boundary…
- The Wild Idea
Dr. Erica Smithwick: Fire, Climate, and Forest Resilience in the East
Dr. Erica Smithwick, a distinguished professor of geography at Penn State University and director of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, joins us to…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Trump Budget Targets Parks, USDA Consolidates NEPA Rules, and Three Key Public Lands Votes Loom in Congress
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking the Trump Administration's proposed budget cuts to the National Park Service, the controversial Forest Service…
- The Wild Idea
Dr. William Keeton: Carbon, Complexity, and the Future of Old Growth
Dr. William Keeton is a forest ecologist and silviculturalist at the University of Vermont who has spent most of his career studying old-growth forests in the…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: U.S. Forest Service Overhaul, Interior Aims to Drill Chaco Canyon, Protections for Rice's Whale Lifted
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking a proposed reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service, a sweeping Endangered Species Act exemption for Gulf of Mexico…
- The Wild Idea
The Past, Present and Future of The Roadless Rule
In this special episode, The Wild Idea brings its recent public webinar directly to podcast listeners. Join a high-powered panel of scientists, attorneys…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: A Pipeline Executive Heads to Congress, SpaceX Eyes Refuge Land, and E&E News Loses a Quarter of Its Newsroom
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking Oklahoma's new energy-executive senator, a congressional push to block wilderness at Big Cypress National Preserve…
- The Wild Idea
Trust for Public Land: Why Every Child Deserves Green Time
In this episode, Bill and Anders sit down with two researchers and advocates who are reshaping how we think about nature and public health: Dr. Carrie Besnette…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Congress Shields Lead Ammo, ESA Exemptions on the Table, and a Georgia Seashore Fight
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking Congress's move to block federal lead ammunition and tackle regulations, the first convening of the Endangered…
- The Wild Idea
Tim Mahoney: The Irish Wilderness and the Art of Passing a Bill
Tim Mahoney has spent five decades navigating the corridors of Congress on behalf of wild places. A veteran of The Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club, and the…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Oil Drilling in Alaska’s Arctic Refuge, California Pipeline Restart, Scientists Release Suppressed Nature Report
This week on The Wild Line: the federal government advances twin lease sale plans in Alaska’s Arctic Refuge and Western Arctic, the Department of Interior…
- The Wild Idea
Terry Tempest Williams: Wildness, Ancestors, and the Holy Ordinary
Terry Tempest Williams is a writer, conservationist, and longtime voice for wild lands whose work bridges story, spirit, and public life. In this conversation…
The Wild IdeaThe Wild Line: Border Wall through Big Bend, Proposed Forest Service Prescribed Fire in Wilderness, Montana Political Moves Impacting Public Lands
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking House Natural Resources Committee approvals on sequoia stewardship and scenic trail designation, tensions over the…
- The Wild Idea
Cole Mannix: Working Land Stewardship and Food Systems
In this milestone 50th episode of The Wild Idea, Bill and Anders sit down in Helena, Montana, with rancher and entrepreneur Cole Mannix to explore the…