AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL INITIATIVE The difference between conservation and preservation is lost on most people. Clearing up any confusion between those terms and acting on it will promote conservation actions that truly benefit biodiversity and wildlife habitat. In doing so, it will make a place for sensible natural resource management.
© MARK MESENKO
There is a simi lar problem with the term environmentalism. It conjures the image of radical anti-development protesters chaining themselves to trees. This also clouds understanding. It is what many first thought of when they heard about the international 30x30 initiative to protect 30 percent of all land and water by 2030 to reverse a trend of global biodiversity loss. What the Biden Administration is doing with the 30x30 idea is an opportunity for clarity and progress. In the words of our founder
10 FAIR CH A S E | S UM M ER 2022
Theodore Roosevelt, “Conservation means development as much as it means protection.” He was saying conservation is the big idea in which preservation plays a part. Conservation and preservation are not opposites. The Biden Administration heard this message clearly from the hunting and fishing community, and it shows. In the May 2021 report Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful, President Biden’s conservation cabinet officers emphasized “...the notion of ‘conservation’ of the nation’s natural resources (rather than the related but different concept of ‘protection’ or ‘preservation’).” They said this recognizes “...that many uses of our lands and waters, including working lands, can be consistent with the long-term health and sustainability of natural systems.” Credit goes to the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation for rallying hunters
CONSERVATION POLICY COLUMN
James Cummins and Simon Roosevelt REGULAR MEMBERS CO-CHAIRS CONSERVATION POLICY COMMITTEE
and anglers behind the right view on conservation through the HuntFish30x30 campaign. The Boone and Crockett Club and many members of the America Wildlife Conservation Partners joined under this banner to engage the Biden Administration with our views on what should “count” toward 30x30. Our community made the case that hunting and fishing access, as well as other well-managed and sustainable activities with sustainable management goals, should count. The Administration’s agreement is more than just a rebrand from the 30x30 slogan to what they now call the America the Beautiful Initiative (ATB). It is now the first attempt in the history of American conservation to set an overall goal for the country’s many conservation efforts. After more than 100 years—during which the Club led the creation of many agencies and programs—it is time to define what we are trying to accomplish and why. Conservationists have always said their goal is something general. Aldo Leopold said, “Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land.” Gifford Pinchot said, “Conser vation means the wise use of the earth and its resources for the lasting good of men.” Many others have said in various ways that the restoration or maintenance of ecosystems should be for the benefit of present and future society. These general ideas all justify the many works of federal, state, and private conservationists; but, none of these ideas direct how much and what kinds of that work should be carried on
and where. ATB has the potential to move the country toward answering those questions based on meaningful numbers. Done properly, for example, this will include an objective for big game migration corridors. The purpose of functioning corridors is far more than ensuring healthy elk, deer, sheep, and moose populations. As these species move through ecosystems, they become the arteries of protein that drive those entire systems. The ATB report specifically named corridors as a conservation objective. Corridors and other specific objectives will be considered as the Administration takes the next step for ATB, which is the creation of an American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas to show where and how much conservation is happening. This will require an update to existing data in the Protected Areas Database (PAD) of the U.S. Geological Survey. That dataset describes protection rather than conservation. It classifies protection only by the types of activities allowed, not conservation value. For example, the most protected are national parks and wilderness areas. The least protected are private lands, whether developed or not. National forests and other managed lands are placed in between. ATB needs new categories. First, everything on the Atlas needs to be backed by a commitment to produce measurable conservation value and by money to carry out the commitment. Then, categories can distinguish among the variety of approved uses, the types of ecosystems, and the communities of citizens
