The U.S. Interior Dept. today launched a 60-day comment period on the development of the “American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas,” which is intended to reflect baseline information on U.S. lands and waters already conserved or restored and serve as a tool to measure progress toward achieving conservation and restoration of at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Comments are due by Monday, March 7, and virtual public listening sessions will be held on Thursday, Jan. 13, Wednesday, Jan. 19, and Friday, Jan. 21.
NOPC will monitor and report on information and comments relayed during each of the listening sessions, as well as develop draft comments for member review in the coming weeks.
Feedback is specifically sought on the following:
- The data sources, standards, and technical approaches that should be applied to data included in the Atlas to ensure it is an authoritative and useful tool for the public
- How the Atlas can reflect the meaningful conservation work already underway in the U.S.
- The stewardship actions that should be considered, in addition to permanent protections, to capture a more complete picture of conservation and restoration in the U.S.
- The attributes of lands and waters that should be included in the Atlas, with considerations that could include a clearly defined geographic boundary, status of ecological function, representation of species and habitats, extent of disturbance, expected future risks from climate change or other human stressors, ecosystem connectivity, and durability of management status
- How the Atlas can best reflect the contributions of state, local, tribal, territorial, and private lands
- How the Atlas can best reflect land and water contributions to biodiversity, climate change mitigation and resilience, and equitable access to nature and its benefits
The administration’s goal is to release a beta version of the Atlas by the end of 2022.
