NACD passes resolution on 30×30
March 2, 2022
30×30 is a national goal to conserve 30% of lands and waters by 2030 that was included in President Biden’s Executive Order 14008 under Section 216a (text included below). Additionally, the Department of the Interior (DOI) released a report called ‘America the Beautiful.’ There is additional information from the DOI on the 30×30 conservation goal here. At MACD 2021 Annual Convention, the membership passed resolution 21-05 on 30×30. MACD then submitted a resolution to NACD.
At the 2022 National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Annual Convention, the NACD membership passed the following resolution regarding 30×30: “NACD opposes any legislative, regulation, or administrative action that would allow, without the support of the affected state and local governments, including conservation districts, government agencies acquiring private agricultural lands or water, or removing multiple-use from public lands, for wild and scenic areas, wildlife mitigation, critical habitat, public recreational use, or otherwise limiting or restricting working lands.“
Executive Order 14008 “Sec. 216. Conserving Our Nation’s Lands and Waters. (a) The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, and the heads of other relevant agencies, shall submit a report to the Task Force within 90 days of the date of this order recommending steps that the United States should take, working with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, agricultural and forest landowners, fishermen, and other key stakeholders, to achieve the goal of conserving at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030. (i) The Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality shall, as appropriate, solicit input from State, local, Tribal, and territorial officials, agricultural and forest landowners, fishermen, and other key stakeholders in identifying strategies that will encourage broad participation in the goal of conserving 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030. (ii) The report shall propose guidelines for determining whether lands and waters qualify for conservation, and it also shall establish mechanisms to measure progress toward the 30-percent goal. The Secretary of the Interior shall subsequently submit annual reports to the Task Force to monitor progress.” Parts B and C of section 216 address collecting public input on voluntary adoption of climate-smart agricultural and forestry practices and collecting public input on how to make fisheries and protected resources more resilient to climate change, respectively. (Read full Executive Order 14008 here)