The Wild Idea Podcast
Explore All Our Episodes
Sheena Pate: The Rivers That Launched the Wild and Scenic Act
The three forks of the Flathead River in northwest Montana inspired the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act — and nearly lost their most famous stretch to a dam before it passed. Recorded live in Bigfork during the Whitewater Festival, this conversation with Sheena Pate, executive director of the Flathead Rivers Alliance, covers the Craighead brothers’ fight against the Spruce Park Dam, 50 years of Wild and Scenic designation, and the daily work of protecting 219 miles of free-flowing Montana river in an era of rising recreation pressure.
Kaitlin de Varona: Stewardship as a Form of Advocacy
When Hurricane Helene tore through the Southern Appalachians, Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards deployed pro crews into remote Tennessee wilderness with one week’s notice, clearing 700 downed trees in six weeks using only traditional tools, in February, in snow. Executive Director Kaitlin de Varona joins Bill and Anders to trace SAWS from its 2010 founding through the Tennessee Wilderness Act and into a new era of year-round professional crews, career pathways, and a community built around the idea of staying.
Jaime Loucky: 60 Years of Stewarding Trails in the Evergreen State
WTA CEO Jaime Loucky on 60 years of trail stewardship, how federal staffing cuts are reshaping Washington’s public lands, and the coalition he’s building to defend them.
Tracy Stone-Manning Returns: Don’t Mourn, Organize
Tracy Stone-Manning on the Roadless Rule’s imminent rescission, wildfire season risk, the BLM Public Lands Rule’s rescission, and why she believes the crisis is an opening.
John Leshy: The Hollowing Out of America’s Public Lands
Former Interior Solicitor John Leshy on public lands history, the Trump administration’s hollowing-out strategy, and what the next five years may reveal.
Gregg Treinish & Lara Birkes: Turning Adventure into Conservation Data
Adventure Scientists founder Greg Treinish and incoming executive director Lara Birkes discuss citizen science, data quality, new technology, and organizational transition.
Autumn Gillard & Steve Bloch: Tribal Voices and the Fight to Save Grand Staircase-Escalante
Autumn Gillard and Steve Bloch discuss the cultural, scientific, and legal battle to protect Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument from Congressional rollback.
Dalton George: The Hellbender, The High Country, and the Fight to Keep Appalachia Wild
Organizing, advocacy, and the kind of power that's still available to regular people when they decide to use it. Dalton George is the mayor of Boone, North Carolina and the national organizing director for the Endangered Species Coalition. He came up through community...
Jessica Howell-Edwards & Dani Purvis: Fighting for the Wild Soul of Cumberland Island
What makes this Georgia barrier island so extraordinary and what forces are working to reshape it. Cumberland Island National Seashore is one of the most ecologically rich and historically layered landscapes on the American East Coast, and it faces a pivotal moment....
Dr. Erica Smithwick: Fire, Climate, and Forest Resilience in the East
Dr. Erica Smithwick discusses wildfire regimes in eastern forests, the newly formed Eastern Fire Network, and how communities can build climate resilience.
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What is The Wild Idea?
Humans have been part of Earth’s natural cycle for 300,000 years, with brains much the same as ours for the past 100,000 or so. What’s evolved isn’t our biology but how we understand our place in the natural world. As small populations grew into communities and then into societies, we created cultural, religious, and legal frameworks to help explain and define our connection to the rest of life on Earth.
