Yes, I’ll gladly shovel the snow. Far better than choking on forest fire smoke this coming summer. Despite the lack of sunshine, it’s clearly a new day in America. The Biden Administration offers hope that Americans who value our wild lands and wild creatures will see healthier, science-based conservation directives from our federal agencies.
And not a moment too soon. A global biodiversity crisis, largely driven by human activities, is degrading ecosystems on land and at sea and accelerating climate change.
Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Lafayette) recently reintroduced a resolution to create a National Biodiversity Strategy, calling for a national commitment to addressing a problem decades in the making that threatens not only wildlife and public lands but the well-being of our own communities as well. President Joe Biden has already made a good start by expressing his support to protect 30% of American lands and waters by the year 2030, a goal supported by 81% of Coloradoans, according to a 2021 Conservation in the West poll.
I urge our representatives to support the President’s pledge and to take up the existential cause of developing a National Biodiversity Strategy. Now is the time to restore America’s historic role in conservation leadership.
Clint McKnightDurango