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national monuments
Biden’s 30X30 Conservation Plan Falls Far Short of What Is Needed
To the delight of oil drillers, miners, trophy hunters, ranchers, farmers, loggers, and factory trawlers, the Biden plan calls for not initiating any conservation action at the federal level.
Jan 30, 2024
Protecting America’s marine and terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity to give them the best chance to survive the climate catastrophe this century is a critical national challenge. In Executive Order 14008 “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” issued during his first month in office, President Joe Biden committed to address this national imperative by pledging to conserve 30% of U.S. lands and waters by the year 2030—known as the “30x30” initiative.
But now, after three years, the administration’s much-trumpeted plan has clearly fallen far short of what is needed.
This failure was designed from the start. In the program’s 2021 rollout: “Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful,” the administration conceded that it does not intend to initiate protections of more federal lands or waters itself, but instead would simply support “locally led, voluntary” efforts to “conserve” working lands and waters. Ironically, the decision to rely on “locally led” conservation efforts was made in a closed-door, top-down process in D.C., with no public input.
Our terrestrial and ocean ecosystems are in turmoil from decades of overuse, pollution, and climate change, and we need to do everything possible to reduce all anthropogenic impacts and stressors.
In its “America the Beautiful 2023 Annual Report,” the White House lists a number of worthy conservation initiatives, but most focus on public recreation, urban parks, jobs, economic development, and supporting “fishers, ranchers, farmers, and forest owners.” These are all helpful, but collectively fall far short of what is urgently necessary to sustain America’s declining ecosystems in the face of climate change and decades of overexploitation. Nowhere does the administration report any quantitative progress toward the stated “30x30” goal, as there has actually been so little.
Worrying signs in the framing of America the Beautiful included statements such as the following:
Rather than simply measuring conservation progress by national parks, wilderness lands, and marine protected areas in the care of the government, the president’s vision recognizes and celebrates the voluntary conservation efforts of farmers, ranchers, and forest owners… [and] contributions and stewardship traditions of America’s hunters, anglers, and fishing communities….
and
...the president’s challenge specifically emphasizes the notion of “conservation” of the nation’s natural resources (rather than the related but different concept of “protection” or “preservation”) recognizing that many uses of our lands and waters, including of working lands, can be consistent with the long-term health and sustainability of natural systems.
To the delight of oil drillers, miners, trophy hunters, ranchers, farmers, loggers, and factory trawlers, the Biden plan calls for not initiating any conservation action at the federal level, instead ceding federal responsibility on this to local, parochial politics.
This “locally led” approach is an old trope used by anti-federal interests to feign concern for the environment while continuing to profit from environmental destruction. And the fabricated distinction between “conservation” and “protection or preservation” has been an industry rhetorical device for decades, dating back to the 1980s “Wise Use” movement. In fact, these terms are synonymous and interchangeable. This semantic distinction is an attempt to justify the environmentally unjustifiable—business as usual. Clearly, this is not a plan designed to protect ecological habitat and biodiversity in the face of decades of overexploitation and the growing climate catastrophe.
The America the Beautiful effort makes no mention of the many candidate species the administration continues to ignore for listing under the Endangered Species Act, presents no assessment of critical habitat conservation needs, and essentially ignores the results and recommendations of billions of dollars of ecological science.
Indeed, local conservation efforts are an essential part of the overall puzzle, but alone will not protect the large ecosystems necessary for habitat and biodiversity conservation. For that we need bold leadership at the federal level to establish new, large-scale, strongly protected national parks, wildlife refuges, and national monuments, onshore and offshore.
Put simply, America the Beautiful is a necessary—but not sufficient—response to the catastrophic decline in America’s natural treasures, ecological habitat, and biodiversity. It is a populist palliative, tidying up the deck of the sinking Titanic.
While local communities adjacent to federal lands and waters certainly deserve a voice—even a priority voice—in how these federal resources are managed, they cannot be afforded an exclusive voice or veto authority. Yet that is precisely what the Biden approach does. The federal government has a constitutional mandate to manage federal lands and waters in the national interest, on behalf of all 340 million Americans.
Local interests do not always align with national interests. When they do, great. But when they don’t, the federal government must secure the national interest, even if it upsets local politicians and commercial interests.
For instance, had former President Jimmy Carter taken a “voluntary, locally led” approach on federal lands in Alaska with the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)—ultimately protecting 157 million acres of some of the most spectacular national parks, preserves, refuges, wilderness areas, and monuments in the world, the largest expansion of protected lands in U.S. history—that historic conservation achievement would never have happened due to overwhelming local opposition in Alaska. In fact, many of America’s national parks were established over the objections of local communities.
If the intent of the 30x30 initiative is to give our struggling terrestrial and marine ecosystems the best chance possible to make it to the far side of the climate chaos this century, the current approach clearly fails. As has been clear for decades, there are things that only the federal government can, and must, do.
The nation deserves more. Our terrestrial and ocean ecosystems are in turmoil from decades of overuse, pollution, and climate change, and we need to do everything possible to reduce all anthropogenic impacts and stressors. That can only be done through bold federal leadership. During the previous administration, we lost four years of federal momentum on this, and if the previous president were to be reelected this November, we will lose another four critical years. This may be our last best chance to get this right.
We now need President Biden to summon his inner Jimmy Carter, identify all of our nation’s most critical and threatened onshore and offshore ecosystems, and use his executive authority under the Antiquities Act to designate strongly protected, large-scale national monuments to fully protect these natural treasures from further exploitation and damage.
Our precious and troubled ecosystems deserve no less.
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New Biden Monument Designations Don't Make Up for Disastrous Willow Approval: Critics
"We cannot save more nature if the federal government continues to approve destructive oil and gas operations like the Willow project," said one campaigner.
Mar 21, 2023
Conservation advocates on Tuesday credited yearslong campaigns led by Indigenous groups and other frontline organizers with pushing President Joe Biden to designate two new national monuments in the southwestern U.S., but they also emphasized that the gesture cannot negate the environmental damage that the White House set in motion last week when it approved ConocoPhillips' Willow oil drilling project.
Biden announced new protections for a large portion of Avi Kwa Ame—also known as Spirit Mountain—in the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada, and the Castner Range near El Paso, Texas.
Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, the two regions will be protected from industrial development by oil and gas drilling companies as well as renewable energy firms.
Avi Kwa Ame serves as a migratory route for bighorn sheep and mule deer and a critical habitat for species including bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and western screech owls. It is considered the creation site for tribes including the Cocopah and the Hopi, and Biden's designation is only the second aimed at protecting Native lands.
"While we celebrate this victory, these designations don't negate Biden's past giveaways to Big Oil, including last week's approval of the devastating Willow project in Alaska."
Castner Range was home to members of tribes including the Apache, Pueblo, and Comanche Nation, and contains more than 40 known Indigenous archeological sites. The land, which was taken over by the U.S. Army and used as a training site for 40 years until 1966, is also a crucial habitat for Mexican poppies, brush vegetation, the golden eagle, and the Texas horned lizard, among other species.
Coalitions including Castner Range Forever and Honor Avi Kwa Ame celebrated Biden's announcement and thanked him for listening to years of advocacy.
"The president's action today will safeguard hundreds of thousands of acres of cultural sites, desert habitats, and natural resources in southern Nevada, which bear great cultural, ecological, and economic significance to our state," said Honor Avi Kwa Ame. "Together, we will honor Avi Kwa Ame today—from its rich Indigenous history, to its vast and diverse plant and wildlife, to the outdoor recreation opportunities created for local cities and towns in southern Nevada by a new gorgeous monument right in their backyard."
Biden said the designations were aimed at conserving "our country’s natural gifts" and "protecting pieces of history, telling our story that will be told for generations upon generations to come."
National climate action groups, however, were quick to point out that the credit Biden gets for protecting the lands doesn't negate his refusal to listen to advocates and Indigenous people who called on him to reject the $8 billion Willow project, which could lead to the production of more than 600 million barrels of crude oil over three decades—and ultimately 280 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions at a time when scientists and energy experts are warning that fossil fuel emissions must be drawn down.
"We thank the Biden administration for these important and long overdue designations," said Raena Garcia, fossil fuels and lands campaigner at Friends of the Earth. "The public has expressed strong support for protecting public lands, especially Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range, for a very long time."
"While we celebrate this victory, these designations don't negate Biden's past giveaways to Big Oil, including last week's approval of the devastating Willow project in Alaska," Garcia added. "All communities must be protected from destructive fossil fuel and energy extraction. We urge Biden to read the writing on the wall and take action to protect our lands and waters for future generations."
The preservation of public lands and waters, said Chris Hill, senior director of Sierra Club's Our Wild America Campaign, are an important part of "a nature-based solution to taking on climate change."
"But we cannot save more nature if the federal government continues to approve destructive oil and gas operations like the Willow project," added Hill. "Designating new national monuments and safeguarding public lands from extraction can help us reach important climate goals, provide clean air and water, and expand access to nature for millions. It is through these actions that President Biden can build his monumental legacy."
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