This week on The Wild Line, we’re tracking President Trump’s cuts to two Utah national monuments, the rescission of the Endangered Species Act’s core habitat protection, a proposal to return grizzly bear management to the states, and a rare bright spot for red wolf recovery in North Carolina. From redrock canyon country to Yellowstone’s grizzly range, these stories highlight how much of the nation’s wildlife and public land policy is shifting at once.
🎧 Listen to the full episode for context, analysis, and what to watch next.
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Trump Cuts Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears by Nearly 3 Million Acres
President Trump signed two executive orders on Monday cutting a combined 3 million acres from Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments in Southern Utah. Both sites hold sacred ancestral lands for multiple tribal nations; Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Executive Director Scott Braden and Autumn Gillard, coordinator of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Intertribal Coalition, joined the show to discuss the decision and what comes next. Tribal leaders have said they received no consultation before the order was signed.
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. – Scott Braden
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 Americans strong is our unification despite our diversity…each of us all come from different backgrounds, but within our public lands, there is a way to connect. – Autumn Gillard
Federal Agencies Rescind the Endangered Species Act’s “Harm” Definition
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a rule last Friday rescinding the regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act, redefining it to cover only direct, intentional harm to individual animals rather than habitat destruction. Former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams joined the show to explain what the change means for species like grizzly bears, whose recovery has depended on habitat protections such as road density limits and roadless areas.
What the 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.” – Martha Williams
On Tuesday, Defenders of Wildlife sent formal notice of its intent to sue the Departments of the Interior and Commerce over the rescission; senior attorney Jane Davenport joined the show to lay out the stakes and what concerned citizens can do.
There is…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. – Jane Davenport
Interior Proposes Returning Grizzly Bear Management to Western States
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the governors of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana announced a proposed rule Tuesday in Big Sky, Montana that would give states more authority to manage grizzly bears in areas where the population has met federal recovery targets. Grizzlies would stay listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act rather than being delisted. Former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams, who also joined the show to discuss the harm rule rescission, called the announcement long on spectacle and short on actual direction for the species.
Judge Rules Bitterroot Forest Road Plan Violates the Endangered Species Act
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen ruled Tuesday that a 2023 Bitterroot National Forest Plan amendment easing road-building restrictions violates the Endangered Species Act, siding with Friends of the Bitterroot and other conservation groups. The court found the U.S. Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service failed to adequately weigh the amendment’s impact on threatened grizzly bears and bull trout before loosening road-density limits tied to elk habitat management. The ruling sends that portion of the plan back to the Forest Service to be reconsidered in line with the Endangered Species Act.
House Committee Advances Bill Extending a Freeze on Whale-Safe Fishing Rules
he House Natural Resources Committee marked up nine bills Wednesday, including HR 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. The full committee markup is linked below; the Endangered Species Coalition has a take action page for readers who want to weigh in with their representative.
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Red Wolves Rebound in North Carolina as NOAA Funds Species Recovery
There’s rare good news for two of the country’s most endangered species. NOAA awarded $4.2 million through its Species Recovery Grant Program this month, including $1.9 million in new awards to Alaska, California, Florida, New Jersey, and South Carolina, and $1.6 million supporting recovery work for North Atlantic right whales, Southern Resident killer whales, and white abalone. Separately, North Carolina’s Red Wolf Recovery Program confirmed four new wild litters this year at Alligator River and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuges, the only place on Earth with wild red wolves. Defenders of Wildlife estimates the wild population has grown to around 22 adults and 12 to 16 pups, aided by private landowner partnerships and captive breeding programs.
Ferncliff Begins Removing Dam to Restore Arkansas Stream
Crews have begun removing the dam that once formed Ferncliff Lake at Ferncliff, a 1,200-acre camp and conference center outside Little Rock, Arkansas, marking a milestone in their stream restoration project. Ferncliff Executive Director Joel Gill discussed the camp’s creation care philosophy, a faith-based approach blending theology and conservation, on The Wild Idea last October; listeners can revisit that conversation in Episode 30.
Payette National Forest Also Authorizes Chainsaws in the Frank Church Wilderness
An update on a story first covered on The Wild Line last month: after the Salmon-Challis National Forest authorized chainsaw use in its portion of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, the largest wilderness area in the lower 48, the Payette National Forest has now done the same. The Lewiston Tribune and the Missoula Current report the Payette completed a minimum requirements analysis that led its forest supervisor to authorize chainsaws as well. Bill and Anders sought comment from local Payette information officers and were referred to a national press desk that had not responded as of this recording. Similar action appears to be building on the Bitterroot and Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests.
Fourth Death Tied to Colorado’s Gold Mountain Fire
A pilot helping fight the Gold Mountain Fire died July 12 when the firefighting aircraft crashed into Silver Jack Reservoir, the fourth death connected to the fire after three wildland firefighters were killed earlier in a burnover incident. The fire, burning near Ouray and Ridgway, has burned more than 35,000 acres since it began June 27. (Figures as of recording)
Next Week
That’s our report for July 17, 2026.
We’ll be back next week with more land stories that matter.
Until then — Act Up and Run Wild.
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