By Laurel Schandelmier, Co-Lead of Public Lands Group
With President-elect Joe Biden set to take office in January, things are looking up for public lands in America. While the past four years have seen unprecedented attacks on publicly held and managed resources, there are a number of things the new administration can do to repair and reverse the path.
MONUMENTS
From the beginning, the Trump administration targeted monuments such as Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante for reduction, dismantling, and private resource extraction. Biden has promised to immediately reverse those decisions when he takes office. Beyond undoing those travesties, Biden’s administration should elevate and establish new national monuments such as the Owyhee in southeast Oregon, Spirit Mountain in Nevada, and the Greater Grand Canyon.
NORTHWEST FOREST PLAN
In the early 1990s, President Clinton convened regional stakeholders and approved the creation of the Northwest Forest Plan, a seminal ecosystem-level plan that directed the management of millions of acres of protected National Forest in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington. Biden can add to that legacy by making revisions that bring scientific values up to the latest standard, considering indigenous cultural uses, species habitat conservation, clean drinking water protection, and putting a high value on carbon storage and sequestration.
THIRTY BY THIRTY
To stem the rapid loss of America’s natural places and wildlife, and preserve important ecosystem benefits like carbon sequestration, it is imperative that more land and ocean habitat be set aside from human impact. The Thirty by Thirty resolution aims to target the protection of thirty percent of US lands and thirty percent of ocean areas by the year 2030. The Biden administration can fulfill its promises of climate as a keystone issue by championing the passage and enactment of widescale land protection.
On day one, Biden can enact executive orders that require smart management of federal public lands - putting a moratorium on old-growth logging and dirty fuel extraction.
THE GREEN NEW DEAL
As the effects of climate change become ever more apparent and harmful, bold action is called for to mitigate and overturn these trends. Passage of a Green New Deal would push the climate agenda further than ever before at a federal level, but any such comprehensive plan should address the role of public lands in mitigating climate change, such as renewable energy generation potential on federally managed lands, protecting and replanting forests as carbon sinks, and restricting or eliminating oil and gas leases on federal land. While Biden has not committed to the passage of the Green New Deal, his climate plan represents the strongest climate position of any presidential candidate to date. We must hold him accountable to his campaign promises and push his administration even further once in office to speed up the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels toward a clean, just energy infrastructure.
LAND WATER CONSERVATION FUND
The Great American Outdoors Act provided full and permanent funding for the Land & Water Conservation Fund for the first time in its 50-odd year existence. This is the primary tool the Federal government has to help create and enhance public lands - from municipal ballparks to our most iconic National Parks. Now more than ever, we need to ensure all people have access to open spaces within walking distance of their homes. LWCF can be used to deliver nearby nature and begin to close the nature gap that divides us along lines of wealth and skin color by implementing grants in a way that prioritizes low-income communities and communities of color.
The Biden administration can hit the ground running, and set the Department of Interior to work relaying the list of proposed projects - something the Trump administration has been suspiciously unable to sort out.
Looking to connect with fellow club members who are passionate about public lands? Click here to fill out our Volunteer Intake form and join the Public Lands Group for monthly socials with news, action opportunities, and more.