According to a new analysis prepared by the Center for American Progress (CAP), the progressive organization pushing for the preservation of at least 30 percent of our lands and oceans by 2030, the Biden administration has added a record 24 million acres – and counting!
Half of those 24 million – 12.5 million acres, was locked down in 2023 alone, according to the CAP analysis. In addition, the administration has funneled more than $18 billion into “conservation” projects.
Some of the projects protected in 2023 include:
- 506,814 acres for the Avi Kwa Arne National Monument in Nevada.
- 917,618 acres for the Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona.
- 130,000 acres for lease relinquishments in Montana’s national forest.
- 223,504 acres for mineral withdrawal in Minnesota’s national forest.
- 325,000 acres for Chaco Canyon mineral withdrawal in New Mexico.
- 10,600,000 acres for Western Arctic protections closing oil and gas leasing in Alaska.
- 242,000 acres nationwide for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Wetland’s Conservation projects.
CAP stressed the president should “focus on finalizing strong protections to conserve more lands through ongoing rulemakings such as BLM’s Public Lands Rule and Western Arctic conservation rule, …BLM management plans, restoring protections for tens of millions of acres in Alaska…keeping up the administration’s ambitious and wildly supported pace of protections…”
The Center emphasized Biden’s use of national monument designations and applauded his creation of five new national monuments and the restoration of two more rolled back under the Trump administration. With these seven monuments, Biden has protected 3.5 million acres of land with the stroke of his pen.
They claim if President Biden protects an additional 215,000 acres under the Antiquities Act of 1906, he will “set the record of monument protection by acreage among recent presidents…”
“Conservation funding” has also increased. Biden has thrown $18 billion toward federal, state, local, and Tribal land conservation in all 50 states. Importantly for agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its first round of Inflation Reduction Act grants for farm bill conservation programs at $1.7 billion for “climate-smart agriculture and conservation.”
The Inflation Reduction Act was nothing more than a gigantic political slush fund disguised as climate change protections so Biden could throw as much money at his liberal friends and buy as many votes as possible. It also serves the purpose of casting a federal nexus onto private property, potentially triggering federal land use restrictions in the future. It has nothing to do with saving the environment. It’s all about politics, control, and money.
CAP recommends the “administration should not be shy in utilizing every tool at its disposal as it approaches 2024. Doing so will put communities first and keep the country on track toward achieving 30×30.”
CAP Analysis: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-biden-administration-has-reached-conservation-records-in-2023/
