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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.
98 Episodes
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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.
As The Wild Idea continues Roadless Month, hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds bring the conversation to the birthplace of the modern wilderness idea: the Gila Wilderness in southwest New Mexico. Designated administratively in 1924, the Gila was the first government-protected wilderness in the world, shaping conservation policy decades before the Wilderness Act and influencing how Americans understand wild, roadless land today.Joining the conversation are Bjorn Fredrickson, Conservation Director of New Mexico Wild, and Raul Turrieta, Deputy Chief Assessor for Grant County and longtime Gila neighbor. Together, they explore why the Gila was chosen as the world’s first wilderness, how its roadless character continues to define both the landscape and the surrounding communities, and why it remains central to today’s debates over the Roadless Rule.Learn more about today's conversation and join us all month long for Roadless Month at our website, thewildidea.com.
This week, Congress returned to Washington and immediately released draft versions of several major FY26 funding bills affecting public lands, wildlife, wildfire management, and conservation programs across the federal government. We explore what's at stake. We also track renewed congressional efforts to advance the Fix Our Forests Act, unpack a tragic and rare fatal mountain lion attack in Colorado, and examine how states are stepping in to protect wetlands and waterways after the Supreme Court’s rollback of Clean Water Act protections.Find out more about today's episode and how you can take action in support of your public lands at thewildidea.com.
January is Roadless Month on The Wild Idea. Throughout the month, we’re exploring the landscapes, communities, and ideas shaped by America’s roadless public lands — and what’s at stake as these protections face renewed threats.Today, Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds are joined by Kristin Gendzier of the Southern Environmental Law Center to dive into discussion of what the Roadless Rule is, how it protects national forest roadless areas, and why it matters now. Kristin brings a distinctly Southern Appalachian perspective to the conversation, weaving together policy history, personal experience, and the lived reality of communities surrounded by roadless areas. From drinking water and wildlife habitat to recreation and rural economies, she explains how these landscapes quietly support millions of people — often without them realizing it.The discussion also addresses the rule’s turbulent legal and political history, common misconceptions about wildfire and forest management, and the renewed threat posed by efforts to rescind the rule entirely. Rather than framing the moment solely as a crisis, the episode emphasizes public participation, collective responsibility, and the generational importance of protecting these lands.Learn more about today's episode, Roadless Month, and learn how you can advocate for your public lands at our website, thewildidea.com.
In this special remastered conversation, The Wild Idea revisits a timely and essential discussion about one of America’s most important conservation tools: the Roadless Rule. As the rule approaches its 25th anniversary, hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds reintroduce listeners to Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited and one of the primary architects of the original 2001 Roadless Rule. This conversation offers critical context for understanding what’s at stake today and serves as a reminder that America’s public lands belong to all of us. This conversation kicks off Roadless Month on The Wild Idea, setting the stage for stories from across the country about the landscapes, communities, and cultures shaped by roadless public lands.Learn more about the Roadless Rule and the links and resources mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com.
As the year comes to a close, Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds are joined by Michelle Fullner, host of the Golden State Naturalist podcast, for a reflective and wide-ranging conversation about growth, attention, storytelling, and intention. Listen in for a thoughtful meditation on why the stories we tell matter, how we show up for them, and what it means to move forward with intention in an uncertain time.Learn more about today's conversation and find links and resources from this conversation at our website, thewildidea.com.
Sarah Francisco, Virginia State Director of the Southern Environmental Law Center, joins Anders and Bill for a wide-ranging conversation about place, promise, and the long arc of public lands conservation in the southern Appalachians. Growing up on a Christmas tree farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley gave Sarah an early understanding of how deeply people’s lives are tied to land — both the challenges of working landscapes and the deep affection they inspire.Learn more about Sarah and the topics discussed today at our website, thewildidea.com.
This week’s Wild Line covers House passage of the SPEED Act and its implications for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a slate of wildfire and public lands bills advancing in the Senate, a serious new threat to the National Park System, sweeping rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act, mounting impacts from Forest Service staffing cuts, changes to water quality protections in Montana, and growing concern over efforts to rescind the Roadless Rule.Learn more about the topics discussed today at our website, thewildidea.com.
Anne Robinson returns to The Wild Idea after completing her seven-month through hike of the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to the summit of Katahdin. Picking up where we left off at the halfway point in Harpers Ferry, Anne reflects on what the second half of the trail revealed — about endurance, fear, community, and the layered human stories embedded in places many of us think of as “wild.”If you missed our first conversation with Anne, you'll find that right here. And for more from today's conversation, visit our website at thewildidea.com.
Martha Williams, former Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, joins us for a grounded conversation about what it really takes to care for wildlife over time. Drawing on decades of experience at both the state and federal level, Martha talks about stewardship, coexistence, and the responsibility that comes with living alongside wild species.We dig into how the Endangered Species Act fits into that bigger picture, and why so much energy gets pulled into debates over listing and delisting instead of focusing on recovery. Martha shares why habitat, science, and long-term thinking matter more than short-term wins, and how political swings can complicate the real work happening on the ground.Find out more about Martha and the other resources and links mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com.
This week’s Wild Line covers Congress’ work on the National Defense Authorization Act, new House actions to weaken the Clean Water Act, a broad Senate hearing on National Park Service and Wild and Scenic River bills, major shifts at the National Park Service and Forest Service, housing proposals in Wyoming, and a federal ruling restoring the nation’s renewable wind program.For more information on the topics covered today, visit our website at thewildidea.com.
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