Endangered Species Coalition Welcomes Biden Administration’s New Conservation Tools

New Policies Will Help Protect Biodiversity

For Immediate Release: April 19, 2024

Contact: Jewel Tomasula [email protected]
Susan Holmes [email protected]
Tara Thornton [email protected]

Endangered Species Coalition welcomes new conservation announcements from the Biden Harris administration: the American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Public Lands Rule. These new federal policies elevate the national consideration of wildlife and wild places, after too many decades of being in the backseat for the management of public lands.

“We know from the scientific community that we must protect roughly half of our lands and waters to safeguard global biodiversity. Today’s announcement is a crucial step toward that goal,” said Susan Holmes, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition.  “Thirty percent of our lands and waters need conservation protections by 2030. But, these lands must be more than just lines on a map; they must safeguard our wildlife by protecting biodiversity hotspots and connecting lands with wildlife corridors.”

Biodiversity is declining across the United States and worldwide, endangering ecosystems, human health, and livelihoods. We are losing species at an accelerated rate; Earth’s wildlife populations have plummeted by nearly 70% since 1970, one-third of the animals and plants are at risk of extinction and 41% of ecosystems are at risk of range-wide collapse.

The American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas provides new tools for conservation efforts and, crucially, an interactive map of data related to the Biden Harris administration’s America the Beautiful initiative and its goal of protecting 30% of lands and waters by 2030 (30×30). “Endangered Species Coalition is a leading voice for wildlife within the America the Beautiful for All coalition, and we will continue to work to ensure that the lands and waters counting toward the Biden Harris 30×30 goal indeed meet the goals of biodiversity conservation and environmental justice,”  said Jewel Tomalsula, Federal Policy Advisor. 

The BLM Public Lands Rule is a step forward for the more than 3,000 wildlife species, including more than 300 federally listed threatened and endangered species, that depend on lands overseen by the BLM. After decades of the BLM prioritizing resource extraction over conservation, the Public Lands Rule is a much-needed course correction to enable proper stewardship of wildlife and wild places. The Endangered Species Coalition mobilized citizens to submit over 8000 public comments in support of the rule.

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