•HRES 835 IH 
(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 sci-
entists 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 House of Rep-
resentatives 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; 
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(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 con-
serve natural places and resources; 
(B) improving access to nature for all peo-
ple in the United States, including for commu-
nities 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 mean-
ingful; 
(F) preventing extinction by recovering 
and restoring animal and plant species; 
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(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 ac-
complished through an effort that— 
(A) makes science the foundation of con-
servation decisions by providing communities 
access to sound, up-to-date scientific informa-
tion 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 Amer-
ican Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
ian communities can fulfill what each views as 
priorities for the stewardship of the natural, 
cultural, and historic resources of the commu-
nity; 
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(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 dis-
advantaged 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 region-
ally; and 
(G) provides tools and resources to ensure 
that the areas described in subparagraphs (A) 
through (C) are effectively managed for con-
servation values and to sequester carbon and 
greenhouse gas emissions. 
Æ 
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