The Senate Western Caucus and Congressional Western Caucus have requested an update on the Biden administration’s 30×30 plan, calling the America the Beautiful initiative “hollow.”
The groups wrote in a “Western Conservation Principles” proposal, “The issue remains that the ambiguous ‘conservation status’ has yet to be defined, and even if it were to be defined, it is clear the administration does not know what percentage of lands and waters are currently meeting this status.”
The members cited the Geological Survey’s data that shows over 30% of federal lands already have permanent protection from conversion, along with a mandated management plan to maintain a primarily nature state.
In their report, the caucuses offer an alternative approach to the 30×30 plan, which they say is a “outcome-based approach and relies upon objective land health standards to be achieved through leveraging existing tools, resources, and partnerships and the collaboration of a diverse set of stakeholders.”
