How BLM lands in Nevada can help protect 30 percent of America by 2030
By: Lauren Bogard
Tags: Bureau Of Land Management, Leadership, Nevada, Public Lands, Conservation

The Center for Western Priorities held its third stop on the Road to 30 virtual tour of states across the West, emphasizing the importance of a bold proposal to protect 30 percent of America’s lands and water by 2030, known as the 30x30 initiative, and how Nevada can play a role in this effort. New polling by the Center for Western Priorities shows that 75 percent of voters in five key Western states — AZ, CO, MT, NM, and NV — support setting a national goal to conserve 30 percent of America’s lands and ocean areas by 2030 to help protect wildlife and open spaces for future generations with majority support across party lines for the ambitious conservation goal.

Co-hosted by the Conservation Lands Foundation, the Nevada event was moderated by Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, and featured New Mexico Senator Tom Udall, who is leading the 30x30 effort in the U.S. Senate, Nevada Assemblyman Howard Watts, a leading voice in Nevada for local conservation initiatives, and Jocelyn Torres, the Senior Field Director of the Conservation Lands Foundation. The panelists discussed the importance of Nevada grassroots and native-led conservation efforts, and how the Bureau of Land Management’s National Conservation Lands can contribute to this bold conservation goal.

Highlights from the speakers at the Nevada event are shared below.

Tom Udall, United States Senator for New Mexico: “Americans — Westerners in particular — treasure our nation’s public lands and want to see them protected and maintained. However, scientists warn that one million species are at risk of extinction over the next decades and we are losing about a football field worth of natural area every 30 seconds in the U.S. Saving our natural world has never been so important, which is why I have introduced the Thirty by Thirty Resolution to Save Nature. Western voters understand that we must take bold but achievable action to protect the places we love. They recognize that the goal of protecting thirty percent of our lands and waters by 2030 is fundamental to creating a livable and productive planet for future generations. Investing in conservation and our public lands is also key to our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, creating direct jobs and fueling the outdoor industry. Westerners value the spectacular beauty of the West — it’s our heritage — and these measures will help preserve public lands for future generations to come.”

Nevada Assemblyman Howard Watts: “State and local governments have a vital role to play in protecting our land, water, and air. Even in Nevada, where so much land is federally owned and managed, local voices can lead the successful push for federal action. Our legislature, governor, and congressional delegation have worked together to stop oil and gas drilling in the Ruby Mountains, fight the Air Force’s attempt to take over the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, and protect our public lands. Local management decisions for water, wildlife, industry, transportation, and land use all have direct impacts on our outdoor spaces. We must work together to ensure that our natural heritage is preserved and accessible to all–our health, happiness, and future depends on it.”

Jocelyn Torres, Senior Field Director of Conservation Lands Foundation: “Our biggest opportunity to meet the 30x30 goal in Nevada is protecting intact, large and undeveloped landscapes, including the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. Permanent protection is essential to ensuring the places that we love and that sustain us continue to be available for the health and healing of future generations. As Nevadans, we know the value and benefit of public lands and it’s our responsibility to defend those values.”

Jennifer Rokala, Executive Director of the Center for Western Priorities: “Scientists have urged us to protect at least 30 percent of our planet’s land and water resources as a necessary step to prevent the unraveling of the ecosystems that support all life on this planet. Despite the administration’s best attempts to roll back conservation protections, there is strong bipartisan support from voters in the West to conserve our public lands for future generations, a critical step towards reaching this bold 30 by 30 goal.”