[upbeat music] Welcome to The Wild Line, where land stories are the lead stories. This is our report for July 17th, 2026. Another reminder about where you can find The Wild Line in the future. We are in the last few weeks that The Wild Line will appear in The Wild Idea podcast feed as we're moving to its own feed. If you're listening here from your Wild Idea podcast feed, we want to encourage you to subscribe now to The Wild Line on your podcast player of choice to continue to stay on top of all the land stories. Through July, we will continue to publish to both The Wild Idea and Wild Line feeds. But starting August 1st, you will only find new episodes of The Wild Line in its own feed. President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Monday reducing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the Bears Ears National Monument by a combined three million acres.
Both monuments lie in the heart of southern Utah's Red Rock country and are considered sacred ancestral lands to a number of indigenous communities. Both monuments have also witnessed moments like this before. Here's Scott Braden, executive director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
While not surprising, it shock- it still shocks the conscience that President Trump, at the prodding of the Utah Congressional Delegation, Senator Mike Lee, Representative Celeste Maloy, the same that brought you the public land sell-off effort in 2025,
joined by, you know, Governor Spencer Cox and all, Senator Curtis, and all the rest of the delegation, were standing behind Trump. Um, you know, it, it, it's, it's shocking, but not surprising, because we've seen this before in 2017 when President Trump acted again at Utah's behest to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and now they're going for it again. But the acreages are shocking. Um, a 90% reduction in the acreages of both monuments, um, is, is, is truly shocking indeed. And as you read through the monument proclamation signed by the president, the vision of what they have in mind for these national monuments is, uh, really just like a upside down universe vision of a national monument where you are encouraging, uh, development. You're encouraging more roads, more motorized activity, more industrial development. And, um, you know, that still has the power to shock and outrage. It certainly flies in the face of, face of public opinion. You know, Westerners at over 90% in a 2026 poll support preserving and protecting our national monuments. Utahns specifically, um,
support these national monuments, uh, over 70% of Utahns do.
And so when the Utah delegation says that they're
representing Utahns who felt cut out of the process to create these national monuments, you know, they are catering to a very small, uh,
population of rural county commissioners and state legislators who have, um, views that are echoed by the governor and by the Senator Lee and others, um, that are so deeply out of step with the people of, of Utah and the people of the West. And it's a view that is, you know, sort of driven about by, by grievance that they don't have absolute control over what happens on our national public lands.
And, um, it's one that just doesn't take seriously, um, engaging, uh, tribes and indigenous communities, uh, on how to manage what for many is their homeland. Um, it doesn't take seriously conservation. It doesn't take seriously preserving the incredible array of, of, of, of, of, of, of biological, paleontological flora and fauna, um, you know, cultural resources, the sacred sites that Bears Ears and Grand Staircase are, are filled with. Um, it just, it get-
thumbs its nose at, at those, you know, irreplaceable objects and just the sheer grandeur of these, these places.
For members of a number of tribal nations, this news hits pretty hard. Here's Autumn Gellard, coordinator for the Grand Staircase Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition.
Yeah, I think, um, you know, Monday afternoon, um, watching the proclamation be signed was
completely devastating and heartbreaking. Um, you know, I, I, I know for the coalition, a lot of us
are in a very tender spot, um, knowing that our ancestral landscape is now
up on a chopping block, and that there could be some severe, um, implications that can happen to cultural and environmental resources there. So
very, very heartbroken, um, and also confused. You know, it, it was very confusing to see something like this developing and happening in real time in front of my eyes, um, and not understanding why a conversation couldn't have been held, um, with the coalitions and, uh, with the respective tribal nations. I think one thing that I would like to speak to and say, um, you know, to, to all the listeners is that
we cannot lose hope. And one of the things that has historically made,
um, Americans strong is our unification. despite our diversity, is that each of us all come from different backgrounds, but within our public lands, there is a way to connect. You know, the environment and nature and the holistic connection that we have with these spaces will continue on. Um, it might seem hard right now, but, you know, sometimes you have to go through a storm to get to that rainbow, and maybe this is the storm to get to that rainbow. Hopefully something good will come out of all of the bad.
So what can you do, and where do we turn to prevent outcomes like this? Again, here's Scott Braden.
Well, I think it's gonna really take everybody. We have to create a political, a politics of public lands in Utah and nationally that values these places and doesn't reward this kind of behavior. You know, i- in the short term,
I think it's really important that we show, um,
Utah's elected leaders and for folks across the country to tell their senators and their representatives that this is not okay, um,
and that these places, uh, belong to all Americans and are important to people regardless of whether you live in Kanab, Utah, or Los Angeles, California, or Arkansas, that these places matter, and that we have a responsibility to protect them. Um, you know, as far as, like, what can we do about it, we do have to, like, build that political accountability. We have to let them know there's a consequence for doing things like this. Um, but at the same time, you know, we're gonna fight this in the courts. We're g- we believe that the President acted unlawfully. Um, and not only unlawfully, but without consultation with the tribes, um, without consultation of the affected communities. They have unleashed chaos on the ground in these monuments and the areas that they have freshly excluded from these monuments. And, you know, we're gonna, we're, we're, we're gonna take them to task and hold them accountable in the courts, but they also have to be held accountable in the court of public opinion and in our political system, where everybody can play a role.
Anders, there have been several stories in the past week related to the Endangered Species Act, but the biggest bombshell came last Friday when the United States Fish and Wildlife Service laid out a new rule redefining what the term harm means when it comes to the recovery of threatened and endangered species. So we turn to the former Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Martha Williams, to lay it all out for us.
What the, uh, Fish and Wildlife Service rule rescinding the definition of harm in the Endangered Species Act does, that it essentially says, "Oh yeah, habitat doesn't really matter. We never meant to cover that." So all these species that depend on a specific kind of habitat for their survival, and remember, the species we're talking about are already at their most vulnerable,
the service is now saying, "Y- yeah, that doesn't matter. It's only when you directly kill that animal. Habitat doesn't matter." And so if you apply that and think about that when you're talking about grizzly bears,
the very efforts that made sure, that allowed grizzly bears to recover,
like road density, uh, restricting, knowing there's some places where there's not motorized use, the roadless rule, um, the wilderness areas, these, these w- the primary conservation area that's allowed grizzly bears to recover, at least in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho,
depends on these
protections that the sister agencies, the Forest Service, is just
pulling the rug out from under grizzly bears and the efforts that the service has undertaken for years. So how can you recover grizzly bears when you remove the very protections that allowed for their recovery?
Speaking of grizzly bears, there was a dog and pony show press conference in Big Sky, Montana this week featuring Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the governors of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana announcing a, quote, "return of bear management to the states." But the press conference, with all of its cowboy hats and dramatic backdrops, created more confusion than actual direction for the threatened grizzlies. Again, here's Martha Williams.
The press conference talked about returning authority to states where the states already have authority and have had it for quite some time. The proposed rule just adds some, uh, responsibilities to the states, but the species, grizzly bears, remain listed and are on the list, thus are on the list of threatened and endangered species.
Th- they did not remove that or change the status of the species on the list. They proposed a new what we call 4D rule that allows for more, um,
m- more management actions that the states can take to move bears or to kill them.
Back to this revision of the rule defining harm for endangered species. On Tuesday, Defenders of Wildlife sent a letter to the Department of Interior and the Department of Commerce signaling its intent to sue over the administration's rescission of the longstanding definition of harm.
Here's Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife.
So the regulatory definitions of harm, meaning habitat destruction being repealed, rescinded, have created the highest of life and death stakes, not only for species that are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, but really for
w- the habitats that they share with other species, for the ecosystems that these habitats are a part of, and for us as human beings. There is just, um, an immeasurable value to the American people of having protected habitats that endangered species rely on because that protects the habitats of all of the wildlife species out there, and that protects the forests, that protect the streams, that protect our clean water. That helps protect our clean air. It protects enormous swaths of our economy, which are, you know, literally multi-billion dollar, um, annual revenues for recreational hunting and fishing, for bird watching, for ecotourism. You know, in, in all of these ways, what seems like a technocratic change to the way that the Endangered Species Act is being implemented is literally going to cost wildlife species their lives and possibly the species' whole existence, and it's going to cost Americans. Um, it's going to cost us, um, just,
you know, not only economically, but also it's hitting us where we really love, um, and that is in our, our shared natural heritage.
So this aggression is not going to stand. I mean, obviously, once again, the Trump administration, uh, has taken an illegal action that is contrary to law. It's contrary to environmental statutory processes. It's contrary to the notion that, you know, the government should listen to we, the people, and reflect our comments and input on, you know, significant actions like this. Um, but certainly, Defenders of Wildlife is going to be, um, filing suit in federal court, and as many of our coalition partners already have, as tribal nations already have, you know, there's going to be a floodgate of litigation, uh, over this unlawful rescission of the harm definition. Um, and i- you know, what's crystal clear to us, as well as to the hundreds of thousands of commenters who made their voices heard on this, is that the Trump administration is throwing, you know, more than fifty years of established practice out the window. And it's also just giving a big thumb in the eye to the intent of Congress when it enacted the Endangered Species Act in 1973, when it explicitly said, "We are enacting this statute not only to protect and recover imperiled species, but the ecosystems on which they depend." So, you know, we had our say in the comment period, and we are certainly all stepping up, and we will have our say in court.
So what can we do as citizens while organizations like Defenders of Wildlife take the fight to court?
The two big things that concerned citizens can do is, one, call your members of Congress, call your senators, call your representative, because, y- you know, in addition to this fight against the administration's attack on the ESA, Defenders and our coalition partners have been fighting off legislative attacks on the ESA from the same representatives who, you know, represent the interests of extractive industries, not their constituents. So the most important thing you can do is let your congressman know, let your senators know you do not support any rollbacks to the ESA. You do not support what this administration is doing, and you're gonna make your concern known directly to them because they are supposed to be working for you. Um, the other thing that I think, uh, people can do... You know, there's, there's so many steps you can take. If you're in a financial position to donate to a local or a state or a national conservation organization, your money will be put to good use. But even if that's not something that is feasible for you right now, you can make a difference in your everyday lives by, you know... If you've got a pot on your balcony, you can plant a native plant that supports a native pollinator. You can volunteer for a cleanup in your local stream or your park to just help wildlife because, you know, wildlife don't live out there, over there. They live with us. We live with them. And there's something that every person can do. And no matter how big or small that action is, it is important to support the native wildlife, the native plants that we, we can o- live, and we can only thrive if we're all healthy together.
But the attacks on endangered species don't end there. On Wednesday, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a markup of nine bills concerning public lands and public waters. We'll link to the committee repository in our show notes, but wanted to highlight one particular bill, H.R.9436, New York Republican Representative Mike Lawler's measure to extend by seven years an FY 2023 appropriations rider from Senator Susan Collins that prohibits new regulations on fishing gear aimed at reducing whale mortality. If you'd like to read more about that bill and/or urge your representative to oppose it, the Endangered Species Coalition has you covered. You'll find a link to their Take Action page in our show notes.
There is still a sliver of hope for some species Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency awarded 4.2 million in funding to states and tribes through its Species Recovery Grant Program. These grants promote the recovery of species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. From these funds, 1.9 million supports six new awards to five states, Alaska, California, Florida, New Jersey, and South Carolina, and 1.6 million supports work for one new and three continuing awards for three of NOAA's species in the spotlight, North Atlantic right whales, Southern resident killer whales, and white abalone, all of which face a high risk of extinction. Meanwhile, in Montana, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen on Tuesday ruled that a road building amendment to the Bitterroot National Forest Plan violates the Endangered Species Act. This after Friends of the Bitterroot and other local and national conservation groups challenged part of a 2023 plan amendment that focused on elk habitat, trees, and policies on road building. The judge ruled that the plan amendment failed to take into account the project's impact on grizzly bear and bull trout populations. And in North Carolina, the state's Red Wolf Recovery Program confirmed this week the birth of four wild litters of red wolf pups in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, homes to the only population of wild red wolves in the world.
According to Defenders of Wildlife, an increase in private landowner partnerships, captive breeding and conservation centers partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and external partnerships have allowed the Red Wolf Recovery Program to sustainably expand while supporting the needs of red wolves on the landscape. Defenders estimates a wild population of around 22 adults and between 12 and 16 pups. There's more to come. We'll be right back. Public land stories continue right now.
We have two updates on stories we've either previously covered here or on The Wild Idea. Listeners may recall our conversation last October with Joel Gill, executive director of Ferncliff, a 1,200-acre camp and conference center outside Little Rock, Arkansas. That conversation centered around creation care, a faith-based approach to conservation that blends theology, ecology, and the everyday choices we make to care for the land, the water, and for one another. In that episode, Joel shared his desire to restore the stream that is central to Ferncliff. Well, this week, crews began removing the dam that once formed Ferncliff Lake, marking an exciting milestone in their stream restoration project. With the dam coming down, Ferncliff takes another step towards restoring a healthier, more natural stream that will serve campers, guests, and wildlife for generations to come. If you'd like to revisit that conversation with Joel Gill, visit episode 30 of The Wild Idea.
We also have an update on a wilderness management story that we first brought you last month. In June, the Salmon Challis National Forest took the extraordinary step of authorizing chainsaws and their part of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, the largest wilderness in the lower 48. Well, that bad idea seems to have spread to the other national forests managing parts of the Frank. Now it's been reported by the Lewiston Tribune and the Missoula Current that the Payette National Forest has also completed what is known as a minimum requirements analysis, and that has led to the forest supervisor authorizing chainsaws. We tried to confirm this news with local information officers on the ground with the Payette, but were referred to a national press desk, which has not yet responded as of this recording of the Wild Line. There also seems to be momentum for similar actions on the Bitterroot and Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest. I recently met with the leadership at the Department of Agriculture and believe that these actions stem from the direction coming out of that office.
Finally, Bill, we have sad news about another wildfire death in Colorado. On July 12th, a pilot helping to fight the Gold Mountain wildfire died in a crash near Silver Jack Reservoir. This is the fourth death associated with that wildfire, which earlier claimed the lives of three wildland firefighters in a burnover incident. The Gold Mountain fire has burned more than 35,000 acres near the towns of Ouray and Ridgeway since it began on June 27th.
That is our report for July 17th, 2026. We will be back next week with another edition of the Wild Line. And next Tuesday on The Wild Idea, we bring you our conversation from the Old Salt Festival with Brooks Lamb, who is with the American Farmland Trust and one of the hosts of the new podcast Landed. Until then, act up and run wild.
The Wild Line is a production of Wild Idea Media. Production and editing by Bryn Russell at Podlad. Digital support by Holly Wilkoszewski at Daypack Digital. Our theme music, Spring Hill Jack, is from Railroad Earth and was composed by John Skehan. The executive producer is Lara Hodge. Learn more about us at thewildidea.com.