The Post & Email by Paul Driessen 7/15/2021
Mr. Biden will “preserve 30% of our land” – and blanket America with wind, solar and landfills Via yet another decree (Executive Order 14008), President Biden has instructed government agencies to “permanently protect” at least 30% of all US lands and waters by 2030. This “30 X 30 Plan” appears to presume that any areas not designated as park, refuge or wilderness are not “protected,” even though the vast majority of federal lands are already effectively off-limits to mining, drilling, timber harvesting and even grazing, by virtue of policies heavily tilted toward preservation and against any development.
Federal land management agencies include the Defense Department: 9 million acres; National Park Service: 80 million; Fish and Wildlife Service: 89 million; Forest Service: 193 million; and Bureau of Land Management: 244 million acres. That’s 615 million acres, six times California, 28% of the USA.
NPS lands are managed solely for scenic, wildlife protection and recreational purposes. Some FWS lands allow limited farming and energy development. BLM and FS areas are supposedly “multiple use,” with some natural resource development allowed, but all are increasingly managed primarily for preservation. Of this total – 109 million acres – Washington plus Oregon – are already designated “wilderness,” where little more than hiking is permitted. Team Biden thinks even more should be off limits.
There is presumably no plan to buy up millions of acres of state and private land in states where the federal government now owns almost no land: such as 0.3% federal in Connecticut or 2.4% in Delaware. Instead, it’s likely the order envisions even more restrictive federal control in Alaska and 11 states west of the Dakotas, where the feds own from 29% of all land in Montana to 81% in Nevada – but effectively control even more acreage, because federal lands surround or affect access to state and private holdings.
Fresh and ocean waters of the United States would likely come under similar new restrictions – managed to protect rare, threatened and endangered species, or with wildlife used to justify restricting or banning drilling, fracking, mining, farming and other “undesirable” activities, in or near those species and waters.
More:
https://www.thepostemail.com/2021/07/15/another-biden-administration-eco-con/
