President Joe Biden proposed to protect 30% of all the land in America from development. The proposal was expressed as an executive order, but it was more like a goal, because the intention was to reach the goal by the year 2030.
In working toward that goal, President Biden protected more land from development than any other president in American history.
The goal was not merely wise but visionary. It assumed, among other things, that our generation is not the last generation of humankind on earth, and the resources locked in undeveloped land may be beneficial in the future in ways we don’t know about yet.
The 30% goal was ambitious but would not have been unreasonable or even especially difficult. It would have mostly involved giving protected status to land that is in an undeveloped state now.
Various estimates say that about 60% of the land in America is undeveloped. A more precise estimate would depend on how you count and what exactly is included in the definition of “undeveloped.”
The contrast between Biden’s approach toward the protection of American undeveloped land and the Trump administration’s attitude is worth looking at.
The Trump administration proposed to sell millions of acres of public land.
The proposal underwent several changes in the legislation just passed by Congress. It was dropped from the bill, due to various pressures including a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian.
The proposal can be introduced again in other legislation. But under the arcane rules of the United States Senate, it would have to get 60 votes. Currently the Republican majority is 53 – 47.
In a separate action, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is rescinding the so-called Roadless Rule. This rule was established in 2001 under President Bill Clinton. It prohibits road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvesting on 58.5 million acres of national forest land.
The Trump administration claims the prohibition against roadbuilding prevents proactive forest management including fire prevention. Opponents of the change claim it is a giveaway to the timber industry.
The cancellation of the rule exposes those millions of acres to the effects of commercial logging, which could include water quality, threats to endangered and sensitive species and increased exposure to fire, even though fire protection was given as an argument in support of the cancellation. Environmental groups are promising lawsuits to oppose the change.
Sen. Martin Heinrich’s office has released a list of all the public lands in New Mexico that could have been up for sale under the land sale proposal. It includes specific tracts of land in 20 of New Mexico’s 33 counties, including a few spots where I have hiked.
Roughly 34% or more than 27 million acres of New Mexico land is owned by the federal government, as national forests, Bureau of Land Management holdings and other federal land. An additional 9 million surface acres and 13 million mineral acres are managed by the State Land Office.
President Biden’s initiative was canceled in the first weeks of the Trump administration.
The initiative would not necessarily have put all of the undeveloped land under federal ownership. The Biden administration proposed to work with local governments and conservation groups to develop a variety of approaches.
Not all undeveloped land is publicly owned now. Of the 60% identified as currently undeveloped, some of it is privately owned with low population density or low intensity agriculture, and some is owned by Native American tribes.
It should be well established in our public policy that the value of land is not limited to whether it can be bought or sold. Saving some of our land in a permanently undeveloped state would have been good for our long-term future.
Merilee Dannemann’s columns are posted at www.triplespacedagain.com. Comments are invited through the web site.
