A reader recently reached out to inform us that when she called to ask the National Rifle Association (NRA) about their support for President Biden’s initiative to permanently protect 30 percent of our lands and oceans by 2030, they denied this was their position.
In the last issue of Liberty Matters, we quoted at length from their release titled “NRA Joins Hunt Fish 30 x 30 to Conserve 30% of Lands and Waters by 2030.” That release has now been deleted from the internet. (Here is the link to the now deleted statement: https://www.nrahlf.org/articles/2021/6/24/nra-joins-hunt-fish-30×30-to-conserve-30-of-lands-and-waters-by-2030/)
While we commend the NRA for taking down the statement, we are still unclear as to where they stand on 30 x 30.
We can find no statement from the NRA expressing their opposition to 30 x 30, nor explaining their reasoning for removing the supportive statement. Additionally, the Hunt Fish 30 x 30 initiative website still lists the “National Rifle Association of America Hunters’ Leadership Forum” and the “National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action,” as signatories to the agenda.
Nowhere in the Hunt Fish 30 x 30 material will you find any recognition of, or support for, American’s private property rights. Their position is summarized here:
“Through science-based, strategic implementation of management actions across the nation, as well as providing the bulk of the funding necessary to carry out conservation measures at the state level, we have been the catalyst that has positioned the United States as a global leader in natural resource and biodiversity protections. We therefore recognize and embrace the overlap between our collective work to conserve fish and wildlife species and their habitats and the establishment of ambitious global biodiversity conservation principles of the “30 by 30” initiative, which aims to conserve 30 percent of the globes’ lands and waters by 2030.”
It would be appropriate for the National Rifle Association to do more than just delete their statement of support for 30 x 30 if they intend to support the Fifth Amendment and the full protection of America’s property rights. They should issue a statement opposing the Biden Administration’s 30 x 30 initiative. Aligning instead with an initiative that supports eroding property rights, with the expectation they will have continued access to hunt and fish on these lands, is hardly worthy of an organization founded to protect the Second Amendment.
They should also publicly withdraw their name as a signatory of the Hunt Fish 30 x 30 initiative.
If you are one of the NRA members who have canceled your membership because of their support for 30 x 30, and are looking for a place to contribute where your dollars will protect our precious constitutional principles, then please consider joining American Stewards of Liberty. We would be honored to have you as one of our members.
