In a letter sent to President Biden today, 64 Republican members of the U.S. House (51) and Senate (13) expressed concern and called for more clarity on the administration’s efforts to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 (30×30), an “equitable and meaningful voice in the process” for state and local governments and key stakeholders, and a detailed briefing by Mar. 28.
Signatories cited concerns including a lack of detail and engagement with key constituencies, insufficient answers about the initiative from Interior Sec. Deb Haaland during her confirmation process, the role of a non-Senate confirmed political appointee in overseeing the effort, the disproportionate impacts on Western states that they say will result from the effort, the potential for “egregious federal overreach” to “undermine private property rights,” and concerns that it will bypass statutory multi-use mandates “and lock up more land.”
The letter also noted the binding nature of statutory multiple use mandates on federal land management agencies, the imperative that public lands and waters stay open to support economic and societal needs, and the role of multiple uses in supporting conservation efforts, noting that the West “is already paving the way on conservation” and that land stewardship is “embedded in our Western values.”
In a separate letter sent to President Biden today, 120 Democratic members of the U.S. House (100) and Senate (20) and Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) expressed support for the “bold and necessary” 30×30 goal, while noting the critical role of collaboration with state and local governments, tribes, private landowners, and “the full range of stakeholders who use and enjoy our lands and waters” and calling for a “transparent, stakeholder driven process.”
In doing so, signatories also called for the use of science and “large-scale spatial planning” to identify, conserve, and protect climate-resilient habitats and “mitigate and compensate for ecological disruption,” the deployment of “robust” conservation tools and “enhanced funding streams,” a whole-of-government approach, intergovernmental coordination, and a willingness to compromise.
At the same time, a new study authored by 26 scientists and economists including former NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco was published in Nature on Wednesday that called for a globally coordinated effort to substantially increase ocean protection, which the authors said would protect biodiversity, boost fishery yields, and secure marine carbon stocks.
Campaign for Nature noted that the study authors developed a conservation planning framework that prioritizes highly protected marine protected areas in areas that they said would provide multiple benefits, inform national marine spatial plans and global conservation, food security, and climate goals, protect over 80% of the ranges of endangered species, and increase seafood catch by more than 8 million metric tons. The study also found that 90% of the risk of carbon disturbance associated with bottom trawling fishing could be eliminated by protecting ~4% of the ocean, primarily in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).
Most of the identified priority areas are located within countries’ EEZs, with several locations identified in the high seas.
