The US President Joe Biden’s initiative ‘America is Beautiful,’ also known as 30 by 30, aims at conserving, restoring, and connecting a minimum of 30 percent of the lands and waters the US has for the advancement of the nation’s economy and the well-being of its citizens by the year 2030.
Biden took this step toward conservation a week after he took office in January 2021. Three years later, new protections have significantly advanced the goal of being achieved by 2030. These initiatives span from glacial lakes in Minnesota to tribal lands in dry New Mexico, vast areas of the icy Arctic, and archaeological sites near El Paso, Texas.
Nevertheless, the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House casts a shadow over the hopes of preserving more land and seascapes. Trump’s potential comeback could undermine Biden’s plans.
Progress Under Biden Administration
During Biden’s administration, the White House claimed that around 41 million acres—slightly vast than Florida—had been newly preserved on public and private lands. This is a 1% increase to the approximately 13% of the US landmass that is now protected.
With 26% of U.S. waters currently protected, the aquatic portion of the aim is getting closer to realization, even if a far smaller portion has been conserved under Biden. The upcoming designations in the Pacific Ocean regions are anticipated to raise this number above the 30% goal.
According to Sally Jewell, former interior secretary under Barack Obama, Biden’s commitment to the 30×30 initiative has had a global impact. Scientists have long argued that large areas should be protected from development to mitigate the ongoing extinction crisis and global warming. Biologist E.O. Wilson even proposed that half of the world should be protected. In 2022, at a United Nations meeting, governments collectively agreed to adopt the 30×30 target.
Washington insists that Biden is a historic conservation leader. The chair of the Council of Environmental Quality, Brenda Mallory, said that the current President has presented the most ambitious land and water conservation agenda in American history, and he is following through, solidifying his legacy as one of the nation’s most effective conservation presidents.
The Biden administration has prioritized addressing climate change, protecting wildlife habitats and corridors, and providing more green spaces for “nature-deprived communities.” Many of its actions have focused on reversing Trump’s policies.
Ten national monuments have been created, restored, or expanded, including restoring the original boundaries of Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and a marine monument off the New England coast that Trump had reduced. New monuments vary in size, from nearly 1 million acres of tribal land adjacent to the Grand Canyon to a five-acre site in Mississippi honoring Emmett Till.
Trump’s Potential Presidency: Implications for ‘America the Beautiful’
The 30×30 conservation target could face setbacks if Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election. Trump has pledged to expand oil and gas drilling, endangering conservation efforts. During his previous presidency, he opened up new areas, including the Arctic, for fossil fuel extraction.
Trump also reduced the size of national monuments, such as Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, by significant margins, which the Biden administration restored. A policy plan for a potential second Trump term, Project 2025, aims to scrap the 30×30 target, arguing it hampers industrial activities.
Dan Hartinger from the Wilderness Society Action Fund warns that continuing in this direction would hinder achieving the 30×30 goal. He emphasizes the importance of the election in determining conservation policy’s trajectory.
Trump may undo many of these actions, but Biden has pursued more fundamental changes expected to persist. For instance, the administration recently elevated conservation to equal importance alongside grazing and mining on Bureau of Land Management territories, covering 245 million acres primarily in the western United States.
