Terry Tempest Williams is a writer, conservationist, and longtime voice for wild lands whose work bridges story, spirit, and public life. In this conversation, she joins Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds to reflect on her newest book, The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary, and to explore what it means to remain present in a time marked by ecological crisis, political strain, and personal loss.

Rather than offering easy optimism, Terry reframes hope as something active, something rooted in engagement. Drawing on experiences from the pandemic, her advocacy for the Great Salt Lake, the fight for Bears Ears, and life in Castle Valley, Utah, she speaks about neighbors, ritual, ancestors, and the importance of local love. In a moment when outrage dominates public discourse, Terry invites us back to attention, reciprocity, and the discipline of presence.

Learn more and find the links and resources mentioned in today's episode at our website, thewildidea.com.

This week on The Wild Line, we're tracking House Natural Resources Committee approvals on sequoia stewardship and scenic trail designation, tensions over the farm bill's nutrition title and conservation programs, Trump administration moves on public lands leadership, Montana political shifts affecting conservation policy, border wall threats to Big Bend National Park, prescribed burn controversies in Illinois wilderness, and efforts to overturn the Grand Staircase-Escalante management plan. From shifting congressional priorities to landscape-level threats, these stories highlight the accelerating pace of federal public lands policy in 2026.

Find out more and access links and resources from today's conversation at our website, thewildidea.com.

In this milestone 50th episode of The Wild Idea, Bill and Anders sit down in Helena, Montana, with rancher and entrepreneur Cole Mannix to explore the intersection of land stewardship, regenerative agriculture, and food system reform. Cole is a founding member of the rancher-owned Old Salt Co-op, an ambitious effort to create an alternative marketplace that reconnects producers, consumers, and landscapes across the American West.

The conversation moves from federal grazing leases and grizzly bear coexistence in the Gravelly Mountains to the structural consolidation of the American food system. Cole explains why less than two percent of the meat consumed in Montana is both raised and processed in-state, and how centralized processing, global supply chains, and economic consolidation have reshaped rural communities. Rather than simply marketing a different product, Old Salt aims to rebuild the shelf itself, redistributing economic value upstream to ranchers and land stewards.

They also discuss the Old Salt Festival, a growing annual gathering in the Blackfoot Valley that blends music, food, conservation dialogue, and working lands culture. At its core, this episode asks: What would a food system look like if it truly supported stewardship? How do we balance wild lands and working lands? And how can everyday choices help build a more resilient, place-based economy?

Find the links and resources mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com.