This week on The Wild Line, we’re tracking a new executive order on hunting and river permits, Interior’s blocked National Park Service partner grants, former wildlife chiefs warning against Endangered Species Act rollbacks, and lawsuits from 21 states and three conservation groups. From Wilderness Week in Washington to Climate Week in New York, these stories show where public lands and wildlife policy is being pushed and contested.

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

Wilderness Week in Washington and Climate Week in New York City

Advocates, ecologists, policy experts, business owners, and public land users from across the country gathered in Washington, DC this week for Wilderness Week, an annual policy fly-in organized by the National Wilderness Coalition. Participants talk with congressional offices about wilderness and other public land issues, strategize with conservation experts, and build the connections needed to sustain the wilderness movement. Amanda Newman, the Coalition’s Coordinator, speaks about the week in today’s episode. Climate Week was also underway in New York City. We invited Ramona McGee, Wildlife Program Leader at the Southern Environmental Law Center, to share her thoughts.

Executive Order 14429 Opens Monuments to Hunting and Sets a 60-Day Clock on River Permits

The full text of President Trump’s Executive Order 14429, Reinvigorating America’s Hunting Heritage, directs the Department of the Interior to open certain national monuments to hunting, including Castle Mountains and Craters of the Moon. It gives USDA 60 days to review river permitting systems, prioritizing U.S. citizens, including prior unsuccessful applicants, and prohibiting automatic computer entries into the lotteries, a provision that appears aimed at reports of bots claiming sought-after permits. The order also encourages the use of qualified volunteers to manage wildlife populations and invasive species.

Interior Blocks More Than $25 Million in National Park Service Partner Funding

Reporting from the Center for Western Priorities and the Washington Post finds the Department of the Interior has disapproved more than 100 National Park Service agreements with outside partners at 61 park units, blocking over $25 million in funding for partner work in national parks. Interior is not alone in cutting off partners. At the Forest Service, funding for long-established partners has ground to a halt, forcing those organizations to lay off staff while agency staff have been reduced as well. Read more about it right here.

Former Wildlife Agency Heads Warn Interior’s Endangered Species Rule Ignores Basic Science

A bipartisan coalition of former federal wildlife officials is sounding the alarm on efforts to weaken Endangered Species Act protections. A letter signed by seven former heads of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries, from the Biden, Obama, Bush, and Clinton administrations, calls the Interior Department’s proposed rule “extraordinarily damaging” and says it “ignores basic science.” The rule would likely let many mining, logging, and oil and gas activities proceed without environmental reviews, and the signers warn the new policies will spell the end for wildlife species.

Conservation Groups Sue to Force Endangered Species Protection for Two West Coast Pond Turtles

The Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to force the agency to finalize Endangered Species Act protections for the northwestern and southwestern pond turtles. The agency proposed listing both species as threatened in 2023 but missed a legally required October 2024 deadline to finalize protections. The lawsuit seeks to compel the agency to issue the final rule.

21 State Attorneys General Sue Over New Endangered Species Act Rules

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 21 state attorneys general in filing two lawsuits challenging new Endangered Species Act regulations, one against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and one against the Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The suits respond to changes the White House announced in July, including removing the “blanket rule,” changing wording from “endangered” to “threatened,” and revising the “critical habitat” designation. The coalition says the rules threaten the survival of wildlife.

Public Lands Day: A Call to Check In on the Rangers Who Steward Public Lands

Ahead of Public Lands Day on September 26, Bill asks listeners to check in on the thousands of federal employees who steward public lands, after 19 months of workforce reduction threats, retirements, and reassignment and relocation uncertainty. Beyond other actions the show has covered, including standing up for the Roadless Rule and signing the Save Public Lands petition, he urges listeners to reach out to someone they know who serves public lands and let them know they are seen and valued. A Science Line report on the mental toll for public servants is linked here.

Next Week

That’s our report for September 25, 2026.

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

Until then — Act Up and Run Wild.

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