In pursuit of the Biden administration’s national conservation goal of conserving at least 30% of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030, key members of the Biden cabinet unveiled its Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful Plan offering insight on the role of working lands and strengthening conservation efforts over the next 10 years to reach the goal.
On January 27, 2021, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which launched an all-of-government effort to confront climate change, repower America’s economy with clean energy and create millions of jobs. In that order, he directed the Department of Interior, USDA and Commerce Department to work together to develop recommendations on how the nation could pursue a goal of conserving at least 30% of the nation’s water and lands by 2030. In a call Thursday, the cabinet officials in charge of those agencies detailed the first body of work on how to accomplish those goals.
White House National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy says the plan looks at not only public lands, but private lands that can voluntarily contribute to conserve the land and sustainably manage resources.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says those making a living from the land are bearing the brunt of climate change, but the good news is that there are known strategies to address these challenges.