This week on The Wild Line, we’re tracking proposed rollbacks to tribal consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act, a push to open the Greater Chaco region to oil and gas drilling, a nearly one-third cut to Canada lynx critical habitat, and Okefenokee’s bid for UNESCO World Heritage status. From a kidnapping in a Northern California national forest to a fast-growing wildfire complex closing the Boundary Waters, this week’s stories span tribal sovereignty, wildlife policy, and public land safety. 

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

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House Natural Resources Committee Advances Slate of Narrow Public Lands Bills

The House Committee on Natural Resources had a busy week: two subcommittees, one on energy issues and one on water, wildlife, and fisheries, held hearings Tuesday on bills covering mineral permitting, critical minerals mapping, invasive species control, and a measure amending the Marine Mammal Protection Act to authorize lethal removal of non-ESA-listed sea lions preying on ESA-listed Columbia River salmon and steelhead. On Wednesday, the full committee approved a slate of bills, each narrow in scope and parochial in nature.

ACHP Proposes Sweeping Rollback to National Historic Preservation Act Consultation Rules

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation last Friday proposed revisions to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act that would eliminate federal agencies’ obligation to avoid or minimize damage to historic architecture, neighborhoods, and landscapes. The changes strip state, local, and tribal governments of most opportunities to weigh in on federal projects, remove significant cultural landscape features like the Grand Canyon from consideration as historic properties, and make public comment on federal historic preservation actions optional at agency discretion. Ira Matt, Executive Director for Indigenous Diplomacy and Federal Relations with the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, joined the show to discuss the fight ahead.

I’m dry-eyed right now because I’ve barely got any sleep finding every possible path to collaborate with partners to express concerns. I’ve got a draft statement ahead of me right now. It’s creating awareness. That’s not necessarily the awareness within just our tribal community. We’ve been living it. We’ve been fighting it. We’ve been yelling it from the mountaintops. But it’s starting to get brought more and more into the purview of the American public because they’ve seen the battles over the monuments. They’re seeing the, the challenges right at the White House and the erosion of process and the current administration’s essential unilateral, uh, decision-making process, and not everybody appreciates it. So we’re finding a way to have a common ground.

 

Resources – Learn More

• Section 106 Is Under Threat: What You Need To Know (PDF)
• Section 106 is Under Threat (Article)
• ACHP Advances Sweeping Revisions to the Section 106 Regulations
• National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Cuts Canada Lynx Critical Habitat by Nearly a Third

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule last week revising critical habitat for the Canada lynx, threatened since 2000, covering roughly 14,030 square miles across Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Washington. The rule settles litigation over the agency’s 2014 designation but cuts habitat by about 7,733 square miles, or roughly 32 percent. The Sierra Club noted the rule eliminates all lynx critical habitat in the Greater Yellowstone area and called the removal of Wyoming habitat a “startling” departure from the agency’s own 2024 proposal. Litigation looks likely to follow.

Montana Land Board Delays Grazing Policy Seen as Targeting American Prairie’s Bison

The Montana Land Board, the state’s five top elected officials, delayed action Monday on a policy favoring “production livestock” operations over “non-production” ones when leasing state trust land for grazing, over concerns it could shut tribal nations managing bison for cultural or conservation purposes out of leases. The board voted unanimously to develop the policy in February 2026, widely read as targeting American Prairie’s conservation herd; a parallel federal effort saw BLM terminate American Prairie’s grazing permits on seven Phillips County allotments, a decision now under appeal. Hear more in Episodes 36 and 37 of The Wild Idea.

Father and Son Charged After Kidnapping Two Forest Service Employees at Gunpoint

Two U.S. Forest Service employees were abducted at gunpoint last Thursday while conducting field work in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in remote Siskiyou County, Northern California, then zip-tied and led to a trailer roughly 2,000 feet up a one-lane road. Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue said deputies were alerted after a suspect used a victim’s phone to admit to the crime and demand to speak to the FBI. A large multi-agency response, including FBI negotiators, secured the hostages’ release unharmed Friday afternoon after nearly 15 hours in captivity; suspects Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, and his son Phoenix Henrichsen, 23, surrendered early Saturday morning.

Flash Flood at Utah’s Sunglow Campground Kills Five Members of One Family

A flash flood over the weekend at Sunglow Campground in Fishlake National Forest, Wayne County, Utah, killed five members of one family: Provo Fire Captain Spencer Long, his wife and former Mona city council member Katrina Long, and their three sons. Deputies were called around 5 p.m. after a young victim was found dead in a wash, and the search uncovered the rest of the family. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office said flooding from heavy rains was the most likely contributing factor; nearby residents are calling for a flash-flood warning system, noting people in slot canyons can be caught even when rain falls miles away.

Mother Jones Investigation Warns Wildfire Betting Markets Could Incentivize Arson

This month’s Mother Jones features an investigation into online betting markets like Polymarket allowing wagers on wildfire outcomes, including acreage burned, spread, duration, and containment. Ethicists and fire survivors warn the markets reward callous thinking and could create a perverse incentive to start or feed a fire, since a single person can alter a fire’s trajectory in minutes; a firefighter could similarly be incentivized to let a fire burn longer to win a bet. The U.S. Forest Service says such markets are incompatible with its mission; California Governor Gavin Newsom strengthened a ban on insider trading by state officials on prediction platforms in March, and bipartisan Utah and California legislation seeks to prohibit trades on illegal activity

Trump Administration Opens Comment Period on Drilling Near Chaco Canyon

The Trump Administration opened a 14-day public comment period July 15 on a draft Environmental Assessment to open the Greater Chaco region to oil and gas drilling, part of a process begun in October 2025 to reverse Public Land Order 7923, which withdrew 336,400 acres around Chaco Culture National Historical Park from extractive development for 20 years. If finalized, new leasing would be allowed within 10 miles of the park, including land directly bordering it. Twenty Pueblo Nations, the Hopi Tribe, and the Navajo Nation hold deep ties to the UNESCO World Heritage site, where BLM has already leased over 90 percent of surrounding federal lands.

Comments are open through July 29 at this link.

Blue Ridge Parkway Debris Removal Plan Draws Criticism Over Scope and Process

The National Park Service’s plan to remove storm-generated tree debris from 3,000 acres across six wildfire-risk areas along the Blue Ridge Parkway begins late summer 2026. Critics, including regional group MountainTrue, say heavy equipment will pull downed trees from up to 58 areas, grading logging roads and landings over 5,000 square feet into hillsides, methods they call indistinguishable from salvage logging. NPS noticed the project through three open-house meetings rather than a formal comment or NEPA process; at least one mapped area near Boone appears to have no downed trees at all. Concerns center on the Craven Gap–Elk Mountain corridor, home to rare plants and a significant songbird population.

Wildfires Force Full Closure of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

The Superior National Forest is experiencing its largest fire event in decades, traced to a July 6 lightning event that sparked over 1,000 strikes across dry fuels, followed by hot, dry, windy weather. By July 15, officials counted 17 active fires across 55,000 acres, and the entire Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness remains closed, with Forest Supervisor Tom Hall assessing where the closure might safely be lifted. (Figures as of recording.) Outfitters face mounting cancellations at peak season, prompting Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative Pete Stauber to appear jointly in Ely to press for economic assistance. Fire management officer Nick Petrack called it the largest July fire he’s seen in 25 years; deputy supervisor Drew Stroberg said snow may be the only thing that fully extinguishes it.

Okefenokee Nears UNESCO World Heritage Designation

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is nearing the finish line on an international bid for UNESCO World Heritage status, decades in the making. Kim Bednarek, Executive Director of Okefenokee Swamp Park and Okefenokee Adventures, is attending the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee this week in Busan, South Korea, and joined the show to share what the designation would mean for the swamp.

There’s just so much enthusiasm building for what it will mean when the Okefenokee is hopefully inscribed this week…Lots of friends around the world have been reaching out to us and letting us know, you know, how much they are behind this bid for inscription. How thrilled they are to see this opportunity for the Okefenokee potentially coming to fruition this week. You know, many of you who’ve been following this journey are aware that the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was first placed on the United States tentative list in 1982. So it’s been forty-four years, and now we’re just really, we’re days away from just see- seeing if the World Heritage Committee, you know, will vote to inscribe the Okefenokee. If that happens, it will be the first new U.S. Natural World Heritage Site in more than thirty years. So, so many things to be excited about.

Next Week

That’s our report for July 24, 2026.

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

Until then — Act Up and Run Wild.

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