[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 167 (Tuesday, October 22, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5976-S5977]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 372--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD ESTABLISH A NATIONAL GOAL OF CONSERVING AT 
  LEAST 30 PERCENT OF THE LAND AND OCEAN OF THE UNITED STATES BY 2030

  Mr. UDALL (for himself, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Harris, Mr. 
Booker, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Feinstein, 
and Ms. Warren) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources:

                              S. Res. 372

       Whereas access to public land, nature, and a healthy 
     environment should be a right for all people, as that access 
     is essential to the health, well-being, identity, cultures, 
     and economic prosperity of the United States;
       Whereas the United States faces a conservation and climate 
     crisis, with nature in a steep decline and greenhouse gas 
     emissions not declining at the rate scientists say is needed 
     in the United States and worldwide;
       Whereas scientists are documenting a rapid loss of natural 
     areas and wildlife in the United States and throughout the 
     world, including--
       (1) a finding that, from 2001 to 2017, a quantity of 
     natural areas equal to the size of a football field 
     disappeared to development every 30 seconds in the United 
     States, constituting more than 1,500,000 acres per year;
       (2) a finding, published in the journal ``Science'', that 
     the United States and Canada have lost 2,900,000,000 birds 
     since 1970, representing a decline of 29 percent;
       (3) the identification by State fish and game agencies of 
     approximately 12,000 animal and plant species in the United 
     States that require proactive conservation efforts to avoid 
     extinction, of which approximately \1/3\ will be lost in the 
     next decades;
       (4) a finding by the United States Fish and Wildlife 
     Service that the United States has lost more than \1/2\ of 
     all freshwater and saltwater wetlands in the contiguous 48 
     States; and
       (5) the 2019 findings by the Intergovernmental Science-
     Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services that--
          (A) human activities are damaging \2/3\ of ocean areas;
          (B) only 3 percent of ocean areas remain pristine;
          (C) 15 percent of mangroves remain;
          (D) 50 percent of coral reefs remain; and
          (E) at the current rate of losses, less than 10 percent 
     of the Earth will be free of substantial human impact by 
     2050;
       Whereas climate change is accelerating the decline of 
     nature in the United States;
       Whereas the Third National Climate Assessment found that 
     climate change--
       (1) is reducing the ability of ecosystems to provide clean 
     water and regulate water flows;
       (2) is limiting the ability of nature to buffer communities 
     against disasters such as fires, storms, and floods, which 
     disproportionately impacts communities of color and 
     indigenous populations; and
       (3) is having far-reaching effects on marine and 
     terrestrial wildlife, including by altering habitats, forcing 
     changes to migratory patterns, and altering the timing of 
     biological events;
       Whereas the decline of natural areas and wildlife in the 
     United States follows global patterns, as the 
     Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and 
     Ecosystem Services found that approximately 1,000,000 plant 
     and animal species are threatened by extinction over the 
     coming decades as a result of land conversion, development, 
     climate change, invasive species, pollution, and other 
     stressors;
       Whereas nature, like the climate, is nearing a tipping 
     point where the continued loss and degradation of the natural 
     environment will--
       (1) push many ecosystems and wildlife species past the 
     point of no return;
       (2) threaten the health and economic prosperity of the 
     United States; and
       (3) increase the costs of natural disasters, for which the 
     Federal Government spent about $91,000,000,000 in 2018;
       Whereas the existing protections for land, the ocean, and 
     wildlife in the United States are not sufficient to prevent a 
     further decline of nature in the United States, with--
       (1) only 12 percent of the land area in the United States 
     permanently protected, mostly in Alaska and the West; and
       (2) only 26 percent of Federal ocean territory permanently 
     protected, the vast majority of which is in the remote 
     western Pacific Ocean or northwestern Hawaii;
       Whereas the United States has historically demonstrated 
     leadership and resolve to protect, conserve, and restore the 
     natural environment, including through a network of protected 
     areas;
       Whereas that network of protected areas is protected and 
     supported by a variety of conservation laws passed at other 
     times of crisis;
       Whereas the United States--
       (1) ranks among the top 5 countries in the world for the 
     amount of wilderness-quality land and ocean remaining; and
       (2) has the conservation experience and traditions 
     necessary to make great strides in the protection of the 
     remaining natural areas in the United States for future 
     generations;
       Whereas the Federal Government, the private sector, civil 
     society, farmers, ranchers, fishing communities, and 
     sportsmen have a history of working together to conserve the 
     land and ocean of the United States;

[[Page S5977]]

       Whereas the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States, 
     consisting of waters within 200 miles of the coastline--
       (1) covers 4,500,000 square miles;
       (2) is 23 percent larger than the landmass of the United 
     States; and
       (3) provides a home to various ocean habitats and 
     ecosystems, including--
          (A) coral reefs;
          (B) kelp forests;
          (C) mangroves;
          (D) seagrass beds; and
          (E) deep-sea corals;
       Whereas conserving and restoring nature is one of the most 
     efficient and cost-effective strategies for fighting climate 
     change;
       Whereas, to confront the deterioration of natural systems 
     and the loss of biodiversity around the world, and to remain 
     below a 1.5 degrees Celsius increase in average global 
     temperature, scientists recommend that roughly \1/2\ of the 
     planet be conserved; and
       Whereas, as a step toward achieving that goal, some 
     scientists have recommended that all countries commit to 
     conserving and protecting at least 30 percent of the land and 
     30 percent of the ocean in each country by 2030, with a long-
     term goal of conserving \1/2\ of the planet: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) given the evidence as of October 2019, the Federal 
     Government should establish a national goal of conserving at 
     least 30 percent of the land and 30 percent of the ocean 
     within the territory of the United States by 2030;
       (2) the goal described in paragraph (1) should be 
     accomplished through an effort that includes the objectives 
     of--
       (A) working with local communities, Indian Tribes, States, 
     and private landowners to conserve natural places and 
     resources;
       (B) improving access to nature for all people in the United 
     States, including for communities of color and economically 
     disadvantaged communities;
       (C) sequestering carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in the 
     land and ocean of the United States;
       (D) increasing public incentives for private landowners to 
     voluntarily conserve and protect areas of demonstrated 
     conservation value and with a high capacity to sequester 
     carbon and greenhouse gas emissions;
       (E) focusing work at a large-landscape scale that is 
     biologically and ecologically meaningful;
       (F) preventing extinction by recovering and restoring 
     animal and plant species;
       (G) stabilizing ecosystems and the services of ecosystems, 
     restoring degraded ecosystems, and maintaining ecological 
     functions; and
       (H) increasing economic opportunities for farmers, 
     ranchers, fishermen, and foresters; and
       (3) the goal described in paragraph (1) and the objectives 
     described in paragraph (2) should be accomplished through an 
     effort that--
       (A) makes science the foundation of conservation decisions 
     by providing communities access to sound, up-to-date 
     scientific information about--
       (i) the land and waters around those communities; and
       (ii) how the land and waters around those communities are 
     changing in a warming world;
       (B) respects Tribal sovereignty and the right to Tribal 
     self-determination so that American Indian, Alaska Native, 
     and Native Hawaiian communities can fulfill what each views 
     as priorities for the stewardship of the natural, cultural, 
     and historic resources of the community;
       (C) protects private property rights and traditional land 
     uses and enables land owners to pass down the working land of 
     those land owners to the next generation because private land 
     accounts for approximately 60 percent of the land area in the 
     contiguous 48 States;
       (D) addresses environmental justice and the necessity of a 
     more equitable distribution of the benefits of nature to all 
     people, including communities of color and economically 
     disadvantaged communities;
       (E) takes into account a wide range of flexible and 
     enduring conservation solutions;
       (F) involves the design and implementation of objectives 
     and strategies locally and regionally; and
       (G) provides tools and resources to ensure that the areas 
     described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) are effectively 
     managed for conservation values and to sequester carbon and 
     greenhouse gas emissions.

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