DENVER — The Biden Administration’s “America the Beautiful” conservation initiative, designed to conserve and restore 30 percent of land and water by 2030, will tackle the biodiversity and climate crises by restoring degraded lands and watersheds, safeguarding wildlife migration corridors, offering incentives for conservation on private and Tribal lands, and creating new opportunities for people to connect with nature. 

“With habitat loss negatively impacting wildlife across the country and natural disasters occurring more frequently due to the effects of a changing climate, the Biden Administration is to be commended for advancing its ‘America the Beautiful’ initiative using a collaborative approach to conserve our lands and waters for the benefit of wildlife and people alike,” said David Willms, senior director of Western wildlife and conservation. “We look forward to working with the administration to accomplish goals like conserving the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area and the Tongass National Forest, increasing access for outdoor recreation, and passing impactful legislation like the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act and the North American Grasslands Act.”

In its end-of-year-report, the administration noted the restoration of protections for the Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments as well as the creation of new parks in communities that previously had limited access to nature. It also highlighted how the recently-signed bipartisan infrastructure law invests in orphaned oil and gas well clean up; connects habitats through wildlife crossings and watershed rehabilitation; and prioritizes drought and wildfire restoration and resilience measures. Finally, the report promises meaningful engagement with Tribal nations in the co-stewardship of public lands and waters, especially around the protection of sacred lands and ceremonial sites.

A summary of the White House report can be found here.