The Massacre Rim Wilderness Study Area in northwestern Nevada sits in the heart
of critical sage grouse habitat. Providing it the protection it deserves will help save
more than 300 sagebrush-dependent species. Credit: Brian Beffort
By Christian Gerlach, Our Wild America Organizer
We are all standing together on the edge of a precipice, regarding the fate of our planet, and all species that live on it … including us. The time for waiting is over. It is time to take action to preserve the lands and waters that sustain us, before we destroy any chance of recovering from the devastating path we are currently on.
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Sign the Petition to Protect 30% of our public lands and water by 2030!
Californians, look for virtual regional workshops to identify 30x30 landscapes, April and May 2021. Click here for a flyer.
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A year ago, the United Nation’s Convention on Biodiversity released their Zero Draft of a plan to protect 30% of the world’s lands and waters by the year 2030 to stave off our extinction crisis and mitigate climate disruption.
Now in 2021, it is encouraging to have new allies and champions at the highest levels of this nation's government, allies like President Elect Joe Biden and U.S. Representative from New Mexico, Deb Haaland, who is now Biden's pick to become Secretary of the Interior, who will oversee the management of all lands and activities of the Bureau of Land Management, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service.
While we can all feel more hopeful for a healthy future, working in mutual respect, love, and care for one another and our environment, we need to work immediately to reverse the damage done, especially over these past four years, under the most anti-environment president in American history. Fortunately we can put this administration behind us, but we cannot ignore the damage which has already taken place, and is still taking place. If we don’t act today, it will be much harder to reverse tomorrow.
The Biden/Harris administration is already showing a commitment to the principles of climate action, lands protection and our community-first approach, with their commitment to preservation and conservation of at least 30 percent of our public lands and waters by the year 2030; however they cannot and will not be able to do it on their own. It will take every individual reading this blog post to do their part to come together and help push forward the 30 by 30 campaign to protect our public lands and waters.
We will need to urge administrative agencies like the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest service to use the science-backed data to improve the management plans of the public lands, forests, and waters to ensure these places’ primary will sustain the biodiversity of our planet and resilience to climate change.
We need to begin better stewarding and consulting with Indigenous and local communities when it comes to land conservation.
We must strengthen our advocacy at the federal, state and local level to ensure the strongest protections for public lands that have been abandoned under the previous administration.
Our state, county, and municipal governments will all need to preserve 30% of public lands and waters by 2030. Each of us will need to speak out to carry this message to every level of government, in hopes that we can leave a legacy of conservation and preservation to future generations. Join our work to preserve Nevada's natural heritage, public lands, and waters.
As the year goes on, be on the lookout for our petitions and digital meeting invitations, so that you can get involved and play your part and help us achieve the goal of 30 by 30. Please start with our petition calling on the Governor to support protecting 30% of public lands and waters in Nevada by 2030.
Sign the petition today!
Donate to support our work to protect our region's lands, wildlife and waters!
All money raised will stay here in Nevada and the eastern Sierra.