Earlier today, the Center for Sportfishing Policy and CCA joined 53 members of the Hunt Fish 30×30 Coalition to submit a set of formal recommendations for the Biden Administration’s “America the Beautiful” initiative, also referred to as “Thirty by Thirty.” The recommendations highlight several priorities of the sporting-conservation community as they relate to the development of the Administration’s forthcoming American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas which will serve as a measure of conservation and restoration progress to date.
“We appreciate the Biden Administration’s recognition to date of the role America’s sportsmen and women play in conservation in the 30×30 initiative,” said Jeff Angers, president of the Center for Sportfishing Policy. “The United States can and should continue to lead the world in the management of public natural resources, and the recommendations offered today by the Hunt Fish 30×30 Coalition ensure we build upon our country’s conservation legacy while encouraging wise, sustainable, and equitable use of our nation’s natural resources.”
The recommendations submitted to President Biden’s interagency working group reflect the priorities first outlined in the Hunt Fish 30×30 Coalition’s “Hunting and Fishing Community Statement on the 30×30 Initiative” that was developed in response to “Thirty by Thirty” legislation introduced at the state level in 2020. In the statement, which has currently been signed by 66 sporting-conservation organizations, the Coalition highlights the important role sportsmen and women have played in the conservation of fish, wildlife and natural ecosystems in the United States. Recognizing this history of conservation successes, the current recommendations present an opportunity to advance pragmatic, successful conservation efforts while recognizing many existing efforts that have, to date, been largely overlooked relative to this initiative.
These recommendations were designed to provide an initial framework as the Administration’s interagency working group begins developing the American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas.
Key priorities of the recommendations include:
- Clearly defining “conservation” to support the active management and sustainable use of our nation’s public trust fish and wildlife resources.
- Collaborating closely with entities devoted to achieving measurable biodiversity conservation objectives, including:
- State fish and wildlife management agencies,
- Regional fish and wildlife management bodies,
- Members of the sporting-conservation community,
- The more than 500 federally recognized Native American tribes, and
- Private landowners through voluntary, incentive-based opportunities.
- Recognizing and including all efforts directly contributing to biodiversity conservation in the forthcoming American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas, including those on lands subject to multiple uses.
