III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 22, 2019 

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 

RESOLUTION 

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. 

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; 


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•SRES 372 IS 

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; 


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•SRES 372 IS 

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; 


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•SRES 372 IS 

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; 

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; 


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•SRES 372 IS 

(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 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) given the evidence as of October 2019, the 

3 Federal Government should establish a national goal 

4 of conserving at least 30 percent of the land and 30 

5 percent of the ocean within the territory of the 

6 United States by 2030; 


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•SRES 372 IS 

1 (2) the goal described in paragraph (1) should 

2 be accomplished through an effort that includes the 

3 objectives of— 

4 (A) working with local communities, Indian 

5 Tribes, States, and private landowners to con6 serve natural places and resources; 

7 (B) improving access to nature for all peo8 ple in the United States, including for commu9 nities of color and economically disadvantaged 

10 communities; 

11 (C) sequestering carbon and greenhouse 

12 gas emissions in the land and ocean of the 

13 United States; 

14 (D) increasing public incentives for private 

15 landowners to voluntarily conserve and protect 

16 areas of demonstrated conservation value and 

17 with a high capacity to sequester carbon and 

18 greenhouse gas emissions; 

19 (E) focusing work at a large-landscape 

20 scale that is biologically and ecologically mean21 ingful; 

22 (F) preventing extinction by recovering 

23 and restoring animal and plant species; 


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•SRES 372 IS 

1 (G) stabilizing ecosystems and the services 

2 of ecosystems, restoring degraded ecosystems, 

3 and maintaining ecological functions; and 

4 (H) increasing economic opportunities for 

5 farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and foresters; and 

6 (3) the goal described in paragraph (1) and the 

7 objectives described in paragraph (2) should be ac8 complished through an effort that— 

9 (A) makes science the foundation of con10 servation decisions by providing communities 

11 access to sound, up-to-date scientific informa12 tion about— 

13 (i) the land and waters around those 

14 communities; and 

15 (ii) how the land and waters around 

16 those communities are changing in a 

17 warming world; 

18 (B) respects Tribal sovereignty and the 

19 right to Tribal self-determination so that Amer20 ican Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai21 ian communities can fulfill what each views as 

22 priorities for the stewardship of the natural, 

23 cultural, and historic resources of the commu24 nity; 


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•SRES 372 IS 

1 (C) protects private property rights and 

2 traditional land uses and enables land owners 

3 to pass down the working land of those land 

4 owners to the next generation because private 

5 land accounts for approximately 60 percent of 

6 the land area in the contiguous 48 States; 

7 (D) addresses environmental justice and 

8 the necessity of a more equitable distribution of 

9 the benefits of nature to all people, including 

10 communities of color and economically dis11 advantaged communities; 

12 (E) takes into account a wide range of 

13 flexible and enduring conservation solutions; 

14 (F) involves the design and implementation 

15 of objectives and strategies locally and region16 ally; and 

17 (G) provides tools and resources to ensure 

18 that the areas described in subparagraphs (A) 

19 through (C) are effectively managed for con20 servation values and to sequester carbon and 

21 greenhouse gas emissions. 

Æ 


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