NOAA today held its second public listening session on the Biden administration’s “America the Beautiful” initiative to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
Deputy Asst. Administrator for Regulatory Programs Samuel Rauch started the session with an overview of 30×30, and National Marine Fisheries Service Senior Policy Advisor Heather Sagar said that an interagency public comment period remains under discussion and will be posted online when available.
In addition to NOPC, public comment session participants included At-sea Processors Association, American Farmland Trust, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, International Game Fish Association, individual recreational and commercial fishermen, Pew Charitable Trusts, National Wildlife Federation, Conservation Law Foundation, Environment America, Healthy Ocean Coalition, Marine Conservation Institute, Greenpeace USA, Natural Resources Defense Council, EarthEcho International.
Among other things, commercial and recreational groups expressed opposition to the use of fully marine protected areas or new top-down processes to achieve 30×30, highlighted how measures outside of marine protected areas including fisheries management are achieving conservation goals, stressed that conservation can be achieved without denying access, and voiced support for the focus on voluntary measures and prioritizing habitat at high risk of degradation.
A common theme among NGO commenters was a call for the administration to establish fully and highly marine protected areas that reflect geographic and biological diversity throughout U.S. waters. NGOs also called for NOAA to work with others to conserve blue carbon and deep coral ecosystems and to establish new habitat areas of particular concern, and support for local, community-driven decision-making and engaging stakeholders and regional ocean partnerships.
Other comments included opposition to the notion of fisheries management measures counting as progress toward meeting the 30×30 goal, as well as sentiment that 30×30 should focus on “real protection” rather than conservation, expressing frustration that the Interior Dept. referred to its decision to open new
