This week on The Wild Line, we’re tracking a Forest Service proposal to narrow public comment on national forest management, a new Interior Department partnership with “de-extinction” company Colossal Biosciences on species genomics, a lawsuit challenging a BLM timber sale under the Congressional Review Act, a volunteer-built replacement for the shuttered Climate.gov, a new public forum from the think tank Ground Shift, and the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. We also remember three wildland firefighters lost in western Colorado, conservation leader Dr. Brent Haglund, and the National Parks Traveler newsroom.

🎧 Listen to the full episode for context, analysis, and what to watch next.

Program Note: The Wild Line Is Moving to Its Own Feed

This is the last month The Wild Line will appear inside The Wild Idea podcast feed. The show is moving to its own dedicated feed; subscribe now on your podcast player of choice to keep receiving new episodes without interruption. Through July, new episodes will publish to both feeds during the transition.

Interior and Colossal Biosciences Sign MOU on Species Genomics

The Department of the Interior announced this week a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colossal Biosciences to advance biobanking and genomic science for threatened and endangered species, including cryopreserving tissues and cell lines, integrating genomic data into conservation planning, and identifying priority species where the approach could aid recovery. The MOU does not obligate federal funds; any funded projects would require separate agreements. Colossal is the “de-extinction” company behind the genetically engineered “dire wolf,” an effort that landed it on the cover of Time, and pairing it with the agency that administers the Endangered Species Act raises questions about whether genomic tools complement habitat-based recovery or risk becoming a substitute for it.

Lawsuit Challenges an Oregon Timber Sale Under the Congressional Review Act

Susan Jane Brown of Silvix Resources, a past guest on The Wild Idea, filed suit on behalf of Cascadia Wildlands challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of a timber sale in Oregon’s Coast Range. The suit argues that the resource management plan underlying the sale is a “rule” that was never submitted to Congress under the Congressional Review Act and therefore never legally took effect, an argument that, if it holds, would raise questions about management plans across the country. It follows this Congress’s use of the same law to undo the Boundary Waters mineral withdrawal, and could set precedent for how far the CRA reaches into land management decisions.

She joined us to share thoughts on these events:

“I think this just goes to show that the CRA is a blunt instrument that cuts both ways. Whether you’re a conservationist or someone that wants to extract uses off of our public lands, you need to know what your resource management plan is. You need to know what it says you can and cannot do out on those lands.”

Former NOAA Staff Launch Climate.us to Replace Shuttered Climate.gov

A team of former NOAA employees laid off in Trump administration DOGE cutbacks launched Climate.us last week, rebuilding the climate dashboard, 15 years of climate journalism, and classroom resources that disappeared when the government’s Climate.gov was shut down. Led by former program director Rebecca Lindsey, the team crowdsourced about $280,000, recruited roughly 80 volunteer scientists to fact-check content, and secured an anonymous grant carrying the project through at least February 2027. The site keeps the original just-the-facts editorial approach, and Lindsey argues its easy erasure is reason enough to keep it out of government hands going forward.

Ground Shift Launches The Forum for Public Lands Ideas

Ground Shift, a nonpartisan public lands and waters “ideas hub,” launched The Forum this week, an open space where people can share ideas, perspectives, and creative work to help shape the future of America’s public lands and waters. The organization says the goal is to move the conversation beyond Washington and elevate the voices of leaders and communities already shaping that future. Bill and Anders sit down with Ground Shift’s Matt Lee-Ashley and Lynn Scarlett on an upcoming episode of The Wild Idea later this month.

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Opens in Medora

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library held its grand opening this week in Medora, North Dakota, commemorating the nation’s 26th president and his conservation legacy. During his presidency Roosevelt took a series of decisive steps to create and protect public lands, including signing the Antiquities Act, a tool that has since helped protect more than 130 national parks and monuments for current and future generations. The episode marks the opening by revisiting a reflection from Ted Roosevelt IV, a past Wild Idea guest and Roosevelt’s great-grandson, on the freedom public lands provide; hear more from him in Episode 24 of The Wild Idea.

“We have a fiduciary obligation to ensure that this vast gift of public lands, whether it be wilderness areas, whether it be, uh, national forests, national parks, Bureau of Land Management, is passed on to our children’s children unharmed. No other country has such a legacy. We were the first country to have, this is called the American model, to come up with the idea that a country so richly endowed with wildlife should be preserved for all future generations. So now we are seeing a strong challenge to this concept…and it is our duty, a moral obligation, to resist this as strongly as we can and ensure that we act as good stewards of that bequest.”

Forest Service Proposes Narrowing Public Comment on Its Directive System

The U.S. Forest Service issued a proposed rule this week to amend the regulations governing its Directive System, changing the scope of the notice-and-comment requirements that apply when the agency sets the standards, criteria, and guidelines used to run its programs. The agency describes the change as enhancing employee discretion to allow innovation and account for varying ecological, social, and economic conditions. In practice, it would give agency staff more latitude to revise or remove the internal guidance documents that direct their work with reduced public notice and comment. The public comment period is open now and closes July 31, 2026.

Learn more & submit a comment

Roadless Rule & Brews Comes to Atlanta

Sierra Club Georgia, More Than Just Parks, and the Southern Environmental Law Center are hosting a Roadless Rule & Brews event on July 12 at Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta. Attendees can write postcards to USDA and Georgia elected officials in support of the National Forest Roadless Rule, grab a beer or a soda, and connect with others in the community.

Remembering Dr. Brent Haglund

The Sand County Foundation announced the death of Dr. Brent Haglund, its longtime president and CEO, who led the organization for more than 30 years before retiring in 2021 and remaining on its board. Shaped early by Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, Haglund is remembered as a teacher, a mentor, and the leader who built the foundation into a national conservation organization. Memorial gifts can be directed to the foundation’s Haglund Ecology Fund.

Three Wildland Firefighters Killed in Colorado

Federal officials identified the three firefighters who died Saturday during the initial attack on the Knowles Fire in western Colorado: Emily Barker, 38, of Michigan; Nick Hutcherson, 27, of Arizona; and Sydney Watson, of Alabama. Two more firefighters were injured after fast-moving flames cut off the crew’s escape routes and they deployed emergency fire shelters. The deaths are the first for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, the new federal agency launched in January. The blaze, now managed as the Snyder Fire after merging with others, has burned more than 28,000 acres along the Colorado-Utah border.

National Parks Traveler Suspends Operations

After more than two decades covering national parks and protected areas, National Parks Traveler is suspending operations. The nonprofit, the only 501(c)(3) news organization devoted solely to national parks and protected spaces, reached more than 4 million readers and listeners in 2025 but has struggled recently to raise the funds it needs annually to properly staff coverage of the park system’s 433 units. Founder and editor-in-chief Kurt Repanshek says the outlet is not shutting down permanently and will spend the summer searching for a sustainable funding solution, though the timing lands as the park system faces a period of significant management upheaval.

Next Week

That’s our report for July 3, 2026.

We’ll be back next week with more land stories that matter.

Until then — Act Up and Run Wild.

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