Administration officials working to deliver on the president’s target now find themselves working to allay concerns among rural residents that they could face heavy-handed mandates, even as some environmental groups push for a more aggressive approach.
All sides agree that much hangs on how the administration defines which lands and waters count toward the “30x30” goal, which is intended to preserve natural areas, protect threatened wildlife species and help address climate change.
Opponents argue that under the strictest of possible definitions, reaching the 30x30 mark would require locking up vast swaths of land — hundreds of millions of acres.
...Nebraska’s Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts held a series of town halls last year criticizing what he continues to call 30x30. Ricketts told farmers to look out for unfamiliar clauses in their USDA contracts and urged county officials to consider rejecting conservation easements if they went too far in locking up land.
While the federal agencies in Washington can seem far away, Ricketts said, the battle lines are much closer to home.
“This fight is in our own backyards,” Ricketts told his constituents. “It’s right here in our state. We’re in the trenches right here.”
His barnstorming appears to have produced results. Ricketts said in a recent interview that 65 of the state’s 93 counties have passed resolutions opposing 30x30 and that he’s heard of at least two rejecting proposed conservation easements.
Counties in New Mexico, Colorado and other states have adopted similar resolutions...MORE
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