This week’s Wild Line opens with a look at the 17-day-old federal shutdown and its ripple effects across the public lands workforce, from widespread layoffs to the potential loss of recreation-driven economies. We share highlights from the Rocky Mountain Wilderness Gathering in Colorado, explore the latest developments in energy and climate policy, and report from Alaska where two Arctic villages have suffered devastating flood damage. We also cover new Congressional Review Act rollbacks, a rejected coal lease bid in the Powder River Basin, renewed litigation to save Columbia River salmon, forest recovery in the wake of Hurricane Helene, and a public lands storytelling project preserving the signs of our shared history.

Shutdown and Federal Layoffs – Washington, DC

The government shutdown entered its seventeenth day as the White House followed through on threats to fire federal employees. Roughly 4,200 workers across at least seven agencies lost their jobs on October 11. At the Department of Energy, six offices focused on solar, wind, and hydrogen energy reported notices of reassignment or termination, with staff accused of “wasteful spending” and “regulatory overreach” under the previous administration.

At the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, combined effects of the shutdown and earlier staff reductions have hindered the agency’s ability to meet Endangered Species Act obligations. That includes a missed August deadline for deciding whether to list a lizard species as threatened or endangered.

The Department of the Interior disputed reports that reduced staffing at Yosemite has led to an increase in illegal camping and base jumping.

The Center for American Progress released new data combining agency contingency plans with county-level employment and recreation information to visualize which regions could be hardest hit if mass layoffs continue. Because only two percent of affected employees work in Washington, D.C., most impacts will fall on rural communities that depend on public lands for local jobs and tourism.

Rocky Mountain Wilderness Gathering – Colorado

Bill attended the Rocky Mountain Wilderness Gathering in Keystone, where stewardship groups from across the Central Rockies discussed the challenges of partnering with a shrinking federal workforce. Conversations centered on strengthening advocacy for wilderness values and agency partners.

“We had 56 people from 15 different volunteer organizations across Colorado and Wyoming,” said Jeff Randa, Chair of the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance and one of the event’s organizers. “Each organization mentioned they collected ideas and actions that they’re going to take back to their organizations, which they probably would not have pulled together if it hadn’t been for attending the gathering. The other big takeaway is that everyone is reassessing what volunteer organizations may look like moving forward, given all the turbulence with the Forest Service and BLM.”

 

“This is year two, and there are about a total of 20 organizations across both states that support Forest Service and BLM lands. These organizations range in size between a dozen and 300 members, so there are a lot of different approaches—but we all share the same issues in trying to maintain and grow healthy volunteer organizations. It dawned on several of us that we really should leverage each other, use leading practices, or even just issue a cry for help. Everyone said, yes, time to get together, and see if there are more common ways to attack the issues we all face.”

Conservative Climate Summit – Utah

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is scheduled to appear at Utah Senator John Curtis’s Conservative Climate Summit. Curtis, who founded the Conservative Climate Caucus, has voiced concern about the Administration’s decision to cancel nearly $8 billion in energy project grants, including $4.2 million for Project Tundra in North Dakota and funding for the ARCH2 hydrogen hub in West Virginia. Both projects had bipartisan support from Senators Kevin Cramer and Shelley Moore Capito.

Arctic Flooding – Alaska

Two Arctic villages on the  Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, were devastated by flooding from the remnants of Typhoon Halong. The storm destroyed large sections of both villages, washing buildings into the Bering Sea. As of this week, one person has died and several remain missing.

The region was already losing land to rising seas and melting permafrost. Earlier this year, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin canceled $2.8 billion in environmental and conservation grants, including $20 million awarded to help stabilize the villages and mitigate flooding impacts. Zeldin labeled those projects “wasteful DEI and Environmental Justice grants.”

In August, rural and tribal communities across Alaska sued the agency over the broader funding cancellations.

Congressional Review Act Rollbacks – Alaska and Beyond

The Senate voted to overturn a Biden-era Resource Management Plan in Alaska’s North Slope, following similar actions for Montana and North Dakota. In the House, additional CRA legislation was introduced targeting last year’s Bureau of Land Management plan for the region. Critics warn that using the Congressional Review Act to reverse resource management plans undermines years of public input and scientific review.

Coal Lease Bid Rejected – Montana and Wyoming

The Department of the Interior rejected a single bid for 167,000 tons of coal in the Powder River Basin after the Navajo Transitional Energy Company offered less than a penny per ton. The agency said the bid did not meet minimum requirements. A second proposed lease across the Wyoming line was postponed after the low offer in Montana.

Columbia River Salmon Litigation – Pacific Northwest

The State of Oregon and the National Wildlife Federation, represented by Earthjustice, filed motions asking a federal judge to order emergency actions to protect endangered salmon in the Columbia River. The filings respond to the Administration’s abandonment of the “Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement,” a collaborative deal among Oregon, Washington, and four Native Tribes that outlined dam operations to aid Snake River salmon recovery.

Post-Hurricane Helene Repairs – North Carolina

The U.S. Forest Service provided updates on repair work following Hurricane Helene, including reconstruction of collapsed sections of Interstate 40 and mitigation projects designed to reduce damage to the Pigeon River. The restoration work will also help improve fish passage and expand the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest.

“The Pigeon River Gorge sustained heavy damage during Hurricane Helene and is now facing additional burdens from the I-40 restoration,” said Clara Derby, Associate Attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “That includes an access road built in the river, restricting it up to 50 percent, as well as a borrow site on Pisgah National Forest where DOT is sourcing rock, bringing it down to the river and rebuilding the mountain from the ground up to put back the road.

 

The Forest Service and the North Carolina Department of Transportation recently released a Memorandum of Understanding outlining their mitigation package, which includes improved wildlife connectivity so animals can cross under I-40 safely, adds roughly 1,000 acres to the Pisgah National Forest, and replaces a low-water bridge. These steps will help restore both flow and fish to the river.”

Save Our Signs Archive – Nationwide

The Save Our Signs project, first reported on by The Wild Line in July, has now released its national photo archive. The collection features more than 10,000 images of interpretive signs from public lands, submitted by visitors before many were removed.

“It’s been a whirlwind, but we’re so grateful to everyone who submitted photographs—this has exceeded our expectations,” said Molly Blake, project founder. “We had some fabulous local journalists who called attention to specific parks in their state that needed coverage. After those pieces came out, submissions went up for those park sites. We’re proud that the archive now includes over 10,000 photographs from more than 300 park sites, but there’s more work to be done. We’re continuing to accept submissions and have added a public photo counter showing which sites have coverage. Some of these signs have already come down, so we’re also documenting changes and modifications.”

 

“All photographs in the archive are in the public domain, and we invite researchers, journalists, and the public to use the collection to tell stories about what’s happening in these parks. One of the most gratifying parts has been hearing from people who said this gave them a chance to take action, to visit these parks, and to connect more deeply with their history. That was our goal—not just to save the images, but to engage people with the stories these signs once told.”

Next Week

On Tuesday, award-winning author, environmental philosopher, and clean energy enthusiast Christopher Preston joins Bill and Anders to discuss his book, Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think About Animals. He shares stories of species rebounding across continents, from wolves and whales to beavers, offering a hopeful look at what is possible when we give nature room to recover. The conversation explores rewilding, animal agency, and the ethics of when and how humans should intervene, or simply care for and coexist with, the wild world.

The Wild Line returns October 24th with more stories from our shared commons.

Until then – act up, and run wild.

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