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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.
108 Episodes
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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 eastern United States and around the world. In this conversation, he joins hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds to examine what old growth actually is, where it still exists in the East, and why its fate matters for climate, biodiversity, and the landscapes future generations will inherit.The episode opens with a deceptively simple question: what is an old-growth forest? Keeton explains that old growth is not a fixed condition but a stage of forest development characterized by structural complexity, habitat diversity, and a suite of ecological functions including carbon storage, hydrologic regulation, and biodiversity support. He pushes back on the assumption that eastern forests have nothing to offer compared to towering Pacific Northwest Douglas firs or coastal redwoods, walking through the surprising inventory findings of the past few decades that reveal far more old growth in the eastern United States than was previously believed, from the Adirondacks of upstate New York to the Southern Appalachians and the longleaf pine systems of the Gulf Coast. The conversation also takes the listener below the surface, into the soil, where Keeton discusses the growing understanding of mycorrhizal fungi networks, deep soil carbon, and why a recent study found Swedish old-growth forests store eighty-three percent more carbon than middle-aged forests, with most of that difference buried underground.For listeners who care about public lands, forest policy, and the long arc of ecological recovery, this is a conversation that connects the science to the stakes with rare clarity. Find out more about the links and resources mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com.
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 oil and gas operations, a court ruling against the Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan, a public scoping period threatening Chaco Culture National Historical Park, commercial fishing access in Pacific Marine National Monuments, and a rare wave of conservation wins from San Francisco Bay to Arkansas. From federal agency restructuring to bedrock wildlife law, these stories define the stakes for public lands in 2026.Learn more and find the links and resources mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com.
In this special episode, The Wild Idea brings its recent public webinar directly to podcast listeners. Join a high-powered panel of scientists, attorneys, policy veterans, and conservation advocates to examine one of the most consequential federal land protection policies in American history: the 2001 Roadless Rule. The rule has shielded 58.5 million acres of largely intact national forest land from new road construction and most commercial timber harvest for more than two decades, and it now faces a proposed rescission by the current administration.The conversation opens with Mike Dombeck, the former Forest Service chief who oversaw the rule’s development, tracing the road system’s explosive post-World War II growth and the maintenance crisis that made the moratorium on new road construction both necessary and politically viable. From there, the panel moves through the science of wildfire ignitions near roads, the rule’s flexibility for forest health treatments, the economic value of roadless areas to outdoor recreation, and the water supply those landscapes provide to more than 60 million Americans. Monte Mills and Martin Nie bring legal and policy depth to questions of tribal consultation, indigenous land rights, and the gaps that rescission would leave in existing forest plans. Vera Smith of Defenders of Wildlife walks listeners through two interactive mapping tools that illustrate which threatened and endangered species depend on roadless forests, region by region.The episode closes with the full panel reflecting on what, if anything, could be improved in the rule, and how everyday people can make their voices heard before the draft environmental impact statement is finalized. The answer that emerges, again and again, is that the public support which gave this rule its unusual durability remains the most powerful tool available to those who want to see it preserved.Learn more about today's episode and the resources mentioned at our website, thewildidea.com.
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, a proposed federal land swap with SpaceX in South Texas, and major staff cuts at E&E News. From Capitol Hill to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, these stories highlight the accelerating pressure on federal public lands and the institutions that cover them.Get more details and the links and resources mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com.
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 Hauser, President and CEO of the Trust for Public Land, and Dr. Pooja Tandon, a pediatrician and researcher at Seattle Children's Hospital who also serves as a senior scientist with TPL. Together they bring a rare combination of policy reach and clinical grounding to one of the most urgent questions facing American families: how do we make sure every child has meaningful access to the outdoors?The conversation raises a deeper question that runs throughout the episode: what does it mean to bring wild nature to people, rather than waiting for people to come to wild nature? With 100 million Americans living more than a ten-minute walk from a park, and with school yards representing 2 million acres of largely underused civic land, both guests make a persuasive case that the opportunity to change those numbers is already in front of us. The challenge is political will, funding, and the recognition that access to green space is a matter of public health equity.Find out more about the links and resources mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com.
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 Species Act's God Squad in over 30 years, a public lands crossroads symposium in Salt Lake City, and a contested land swap at Cumberland Island National Seashore. From wildlife toxicology to oil and gas exemptions on federal waters, these stories define the current frontlines of public lands policy.Find the links and resources mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com.
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 Pew Charitable Trusts, he is one of the most experienced wilderness lobbyists of his generation. In this special St. Patrick’s Day episode, co-hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds sit down with the man Anders credits as his political mentor to trace the arc of a career built on the belief that the strongest protection you can give land is to protect it in law.The centerpiece of the conversation is the Irish Wilderness in Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest, designated by Congress in 1984. Mahoney walks through the full legislative history of that campaign: the bipartisan coalitions and back-room alliances, the opposition from the mining industry, the procedural losses in the House, the creative use of appropriations riders to forestall mineral leasing, and the formal conference committee that ultimately split the difference on acreage. Mahoney does not pretend to know what the next twenty years will bring, but he is clear on what he values: the skills required to pass wilderness legislation, the willingness to work across deep ideological divides, and the humility to take a partial win over a virtuous defeat. His parting challenge to a new generation of advocates is as practical as it is pointed.Learn more about today's conversation at our website, thewildidea.com.
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 finalizes revised NEPA procedures, the Trump Administration moves to restart a spill-prone California pipeline, and a slate of state-level public lands stories from Virginia, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, and British Columbia. The independently released Nature Record warns of cascading consequences from continued environmental degradation.Listen to the full episode for context, commentary, and what to watch next. Find the links and resources mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com.
Terry Tempest Williams is a writer, conservationist, and longtime voice for wild lands whose work bridges story, spirit, and public life. In this conversation, she joins Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds to reflect on her newest book, The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary, and to explore what it means to remain present in a time marked by ecological crisis, political strain, and personal loss.Rather than offering easy optimism, Terry reframes hope as something active, something rooted in engagement. Drawing on experiences from the pandemic, her advocacy for the Great Salt Lake, the fight for Bears Ears, and life in Castle Valley, Utah, she speaks about neighbors, ritual, ancestors, and the importance of local love. In a moment when outrage dominates public discourse, Terry invites us back to attention, reciprocity, and the discipline of presence.Learn more and find the links and resources mentioned in today's episode at our website, thewildidea.com.
This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking House Natural Resources Committee approvals on sequoia stewardship and scenic trail designation, tensions over the farm bill's nutrition title and conservation programs, Trump administration moves on public lands leadership, Montana political shifts affecting conservation policy, border wall threats to Big Bend National Park, prescribed burn controversies in Illinois wilderness, and efforts to overturn the Grand Staircase-Escalante management plan. From shifting congressional priorities to landscape-level threats, these stories highlight the accelerating pace of federal public lands policy in 2026.Find out more and access links and resources from today's conversation at our website, thewildidea.com.
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 intersection of land stewardship, regenerative agriculture, and food system reform. Cole is a founding member of the rancher-owned Old Salt Co-op, an ambitious effort to create an alternative marketplace that reconnects producers, consumers, and landscapes across the American West.The conversation moves from federal grazing leases and grizzly bear coexistence in the Gravelly Mountains to the structural consolidation of the American food system. Cole explains why less than two percent of the meat consumed in Montana is both raised and processed in-state, and how centralized processing, global supply chains, and economic consolidation have reshaped rural communities. Rather than simply marketing a different product, Old Salt aims to rebuild the shelf itself, redistributing economic value upstream to ranchers and land stewards.They also discuss the Old Salt Festival, a growing annual gathering in the Blackfoot Valley that blends music, food, conservation dialogue, and working lands culture. At its core, this episode asks: What would a food system look like if it truly supported stewardship? How do we balance wild lands and working lands? And how can everyday choices help build a more resilient, place-based economy?Find the links and resources mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com.
This week on The Wild Line, we’re tracking the Senate confirmation hearing for Bureau of Land Management nominee Steve Pearce, a new Public Land Order revoking protections on 2.1 million acres in Alaska, federal changes to protections for the lesser prairie chicken, and a Vermont Supreme Court ruling on public trail access. From federal land oversight to wildlife policy and access rights, these stories highlight major shifts in public lands governance.Find the links and resources from today's episode at our website, thewildidea.com.
This week on The Wild Line, we’re tracking a lawsuit challenging alleged censorship within the National Park Service, looming federal water cuts on the Colorado River, debate over the stalled Farm Bill, proposed management changes to Montana’s Flathead River, and final public comments on a controversial visitor plan for Cumberland Island National Seashore.Find out more about the stories covered today and how you can take action at our website, thewildidea.com.
This week on The Wild Line: a key Senate vote on Boundary Waters mining protections is postponed, the Forest Service proposes limits on public comment, and the Trump administration rolls back protections at a major Atlantic marine monument. We also cover a National Park Service nomination, federal public lands legislation, and new state action in Oregon and Illinois.Learn more about today's stories and how you can take action at our website, thewildidea.com.
On this week’s Wild Line, we cover major developments in federal public lands policy, intensifying negotiations over the Colorado River, the Trump administration’s renewed push for oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the rollback of climate journalism at the Washington Post. We also share timely opportunities for public comment and mark the passing of a giant in the conservation movement.Learn more about today's stories and how you can take action at our website, thewildidea.com.
This week on The Wild Line, we cover major developments affecting public lands, national forests, tribal sovereignty, water protections, national parks, and conservation policy—plus what to watch in Congress in the coming days.Learn more about today's stories and how you can take action at our website, thewildidea.com.
As The Wild Idea concludes Roadless Month, hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds turn their attention north — to Southeast Alaska and the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States and the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest.Covering nearly 17 million acres, the Tongass has become a focal point in national debates over old-growth logging, climate resilience, rural economies, and the future of the Roadless Rule. Joining the conversation is Andrew Thoms, Executive Director of Sitka Conservation Society, who brings decades of experience working at the intersection of community, conservation, and economic transition in Southeast Alaska.Learn more about today's conversation and find the links and resources mentioned at our website, thewildidea.com.
This week’s Wild Line tracks a fast-moving series of decisions on Capitol Hill and inside federal agencies that could reshape protections for wilderness, public lands, and conservation efforts nationwide. Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds cover the House vote targeting the Boundary Waters, contentious testimony around the EXPLORE Act, Interior Department actions affecting grazing and bison restoration in Montana, and a long-stalled highway project approved inside a National Conservation Area.For more information on the stories discussed today, visit our website at thewildidea.com.
As The Wild Idea continues Roadless Month, hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds turn their focus to one of the most culturally and ecologically significant landscapes in Montana: the Badger–Two Medicine. Situated along the Rocky Mountain Front, just south of Glacier National Park, the Badger–Two Medicine is a place where roadless protection, wildlife habitat, and deep Indigenous responsibility converge. Joining the conversation are Terry Tatsey, a member of the Blackfeet Nation with lifelong ties to the Badger–Two Medicine, and Peter Metcalf, Executive Director of the Glacier–Two Medicine Alliance. Together, they explore why this landscape matters, how decades of advocacy successfully ended oil and gas leasing in 2023, and what is now at stake as the U.S. Department of Agriculture considers rescinding the Roadless Rule.For more information about the topics discussed today, visit our website at thewildidea.com.
This week’s Wild Line covers a sweeping set of developments across federal land policy, wildfire response, public access, environmental regulation, and conservation funding — from Capitol Hill maneuvering that threatens the Boundary Waters, to Interior Department shakeups, EPA rulemaking decisions, and the 25th anniversary of the Roadless Rule.Find out more about today's episode and how you can take action in support of your public lands at thewildidea.com.
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