August 31, 2022
Washington, DC
President Joe Biden’s “30 X 30” initiative threatens to be the biggest federal land grab since Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Executive Order 14008 on “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” signed by President Biden on 27th January 2021, directs the Secretary of the Interior in section 216 “to achieve the goal of conserving at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.”
Although roughly 640 million acres (or 27%) of America’s total land mass are already owned by the four federal land agencies, the Secretary of the Interior’s initial report, titled “Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful,” makes it clear that 30 X 30 will target massive amounts of privately-owned land for government control as well as eliminating natural resource production (including oil and gas, hardrock minerals, timber, and livestock grazing) on National Forests and public lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management. Radical preservation groups and other proponents of 30 X 30 have stated emphatically that locking up the West and Alaska, where most of the federal lands are, is not sufficient; instead, they insist that 30% of each “eco-region” must be under federal land-use management. This will necessarily require regulating hundreds of millions of acres of private land.
Conservatives strongly oppose 30 X 30 for the following reasons:
- Property rights and widespread ownership of private property are essential foundations of limited government and ordered liberty. The current extent of federal land ownership and of federal land-use controls already threatens these vital constitutional underpinnings. 30 X 30 constitutes another step on the regulatory road to serfdom.
- When government owns or controls most of the land in rural America, government then controls the rural economies and the lives of rural Americans. Rather than adding another layer of federal regulation over rural America, the President and the Congress should be repealing or reforming existing federal land-use controls and radically reducing the amount of land owned by the federal land agencies.
- The federal land agencies are more often than not terrible stewards of the environment. For example, the catastrophic wildfires that have destroyed millions of acres of forests in the West and the wildlife living there are fires that start and spread on federal land because of misguided preservationist policies. Private land owners, on the other hand, have strong incentives to take care of what they own through active management. Existing federal controls on private land, such as endangered species habitat designations, have created perverse incentives and thereby damaged the environment. Imposing another layer of federal land-use control can only lead to further environmental degradation.
- There is no existing legislative authority for 30 X 30, and the 117th Congress has taken no steps to authorize 30 X 30. No hearings have been held by the House and Senate committees of jurisdiction, and no bills to authorize a 30 X 30 program have been introduced. In fact, the only bill that has been introduced, by Representative Lauren Boebert, would prohibit implementation of 30 X 30.
We encourage all Americans to oppose this illegal, immense, and catastrophic expansion of federal control over our property and our lives.
| The Honorable Edwin Meese III Attorney General President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988) |
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell Chairman, Conservative Action Project Chairman, CNP Action, Inc. |
| The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop White House Advisor President Ronald Reagan (1981-1985) |
Myron Ebell Director, Center for Energy and Environment Competitive Enterprise Institute |
| The Honorable Bob McEwen U.S. House of Representatives Former Member, Ohio |
The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell President The Leadership Institute |
| Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq. President and CEO First Liberty Institute |
The Honorable Jim DeMint Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013) |
| Ed Corrigan Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project President & CEO, Conservative Partnership Institute |
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Chief Domestic Advisor President Ronald Reagan (1987-1988) |
| Tom Jones Co-Founder American Accountability Foundation |
The Honorable Paul S. Teller, Ph.D. Executive Director Advancing American Freedom |
| Terry Schilling President American Principles Project |
Alfred S. Regnery President Republic Book Publishers |
| Lisa B. Nelson Chief Executive Officer American Legislative Exchange Council |
The Honorable Matt Schlapp Chairman CPAC |
| Chad Connelly Founder and President Faith Wins |
The Honorable David McIntosh President Club for Growth |
| Scott T. Parkinson Vice President for Government Affairs Club for Growth |
L. Brent Bozell III Founder and President Media Research Center |
| Thomas Fitton President, Judicial Watch, Inc. President, Council for National Policy |
Jenny Beth Martin Chairman Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund |
| David N. Bossie President Citizens United |
Noah Wall Executive Vice President FreedomWorks |
| The Honorable Tony Perkins President Family Research Council |
William L. Walton The Bill Walton Show Resolute Protector Foundation |
| The Honorable Russ Vought Director Office of Management and Budget (2020-2021) |
David Bozell President ForAmerica |
| Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (Ret.) Executive Vice President Family Research Council |
Wesley Denton Chief Operating Officer Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) |
| Lori Roman President ACRU Action Fund |
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. Executive Chairman Center for Security Policy |
| The Honorable Brooke Rollins President and CEO America First Policy Institute (AFPI) |
The Honorable Ken Cuccinelli Former AG of Virginia & Asst. Deputy Sec., Dept. of Homeland Security Center for Renewing America |
| The Honorable Ken Ivory Representative Utah House of Representatives |
The Honorable Scott Walker President Young America’s Foundation |
| The Honorable James C. Miller III Budget Director for President Reagan (1985-1988) |
The Honorable Donald Paul Hodel U.S. Secretary of Energy (1982-1985) U.S. Secretary of Interior (1985-1989) |
| Rod D. Martin Founder & CEO The Martin Organization, Inc. |
Guillermo J. Aragon Chief Strategy Officer Martin Capital |
| Christina Murphy Lusk President The Martin Foundation |
Lourdes Cosio Campaign for the American Future |
| Sherri R. Martin Executive Vice President The Martin Organization, Inc. |
Shawn A. Mitchell Former National Chaplain National Federation of Republican Assemblies |
| The Honorable Stephen Stockman U.S. House of Representatives Former Member, Texas |
Anne Schlafly Cori Chairman Eagle Forum |
| Ron Pearson Executive Director Conservative Victory Fund |
Dr. Virginia Armstrong Natl Director, Law & Worldview Program Eagle Forum |
| Tim Throckmorton President Lifepointe Ministry |
The Honorable Peter Hoekstra Member of Congress 1993-2011 Ambassador (Ret) |
| Joan Holt Lindsey President Lindsey Communications |
Richard D. Hayes Partner Hayes, Berry, White & Vanzant, LLP |
| Jack Park Conservative Activist and Donor |
Mario Navarro da Costa Director, Washington Bureau Tradition, Family, Property |
| Judson Phillips Founder Tea Party Nation |
Thomas Pyle President American Energy Alliance |
| The Honorable Jake Hoffman President & CEO AlignAct.com |
G. Eric Georgatos Executive Producer America Can We Talk? |
| Tom DeWeese President American Policy Center |
Paul Gessing President Rio Grande Foundation |
| Caren Cowan Executive Director Protect Americans Now |
Don L. (Bebo) Lee President New Mexico Federal Lands Council |
| Joseph A. Morris Partner, Morris & De La Rosa Chairman, The Heartland Institute |
Dr. Paige Patterson President Sandy Creek Foundation |
| The Honorable Mike Hill Former Member Florida State Representative |
The Honorable George K. Rasley Jr. Former Assistant Director U.S. National Park Service |
| Gerard Kassar State Chairman NYS Conservative Party |
The Honorable Gail Griffin Representative Arizona |
| Ed Regan Former Resource Manager (1995 – 2021) RY Timber, Inc. |
Dr. E. Calvin Beisner President Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation |
| Ambassador Henry F. Cooper President Reagan Chief Defense and Space Negotiator Former SDI Director |
Elaine Donnelly President Center for Military Readiness |
| Rod Vandenbos CEO R2 LLC |
Sean Noble President American Encore |
| Tim Macy Chairman of the Board Gun Owners of America |
Michelle Easton President Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women |
| C. Preston Noell III President Tradition, Family, Property, Inc. |
Don Woodsmall President (Interim) Center for Security Policy |
| Martha Boneta Fain President VAF |
Ashley Baker Director of Public Policy Committee for Justice |
| Michael J. Petersen State Representative Utah House of Representatives |
Seton Motley President Less Government |
| Kristen A. Ullman President Eagle Forum |
Carl Albrecht State Legislator |
| Kay R. Daly President Coalition for a Fair Judiciary |
Melvin Adams President Noah Webster Educational foundation |
| Mark Fitzgibbons President of Corporate Affairs American Target Advertising |
Andresen Blom President Hawaiian Values |
| Kevin Freeman Founder NSIC Institute |
Richard Rounsavelle Trustee MRC |
| Nancy Schulze Founder, CEO RCW Speakers |
Sal Russo Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Tea Party Express |
| Penna Dexter Co-host Point of View Radio |
The Honorable Diana Denman Presidential Appointee President Ronald Reagan |
| Richard Manning President Americans for Limited Government |
Eaton Hopkins President Liberty Surgical, Inc. |
| The Honorable Peter J. Thomas Chairman The Conservative Caucus |
Ralph A. Rebandt II Candidate Ralph Rebandt for Governor |
| James Edwards Executive Director Conservatives for Property Rights |
Dr. Jerome Robert Corsi Founder and CEO DrJeromeCorsi.com |
| Darrell A. Henry Executive Director Western Caucus Foundation |
The Honorable Terrence Scanlon Retired Chairman and President Capital Research Center |
| Chris Wright Executive Committee Member Potomac Tea Party |
Willes K. Lee Vice President National Rifle Association of America |
| The Honorable Cheryl K. Acton Representative Utah House of Representatives |
Allen J. Hebert Chairman American-Chinese Fellowship |
| Kent Glesener President Paradigm Construction & Engineering, Inc. |
Floyd Brown Founder The Western Journal |
| Alan Gardner Chairman American Lands Council |
Greg Walcher Former Executive Director Colorado Dept. of Natural Resources |
| Saulius “Saul” Anuzis President 60 Plus Association |
James L. Martin Founder/Chairman 60 Plus Association |
| Heather R. Higgins CEO Independent Women’s Voice |
Carrie L. Lukas President Independent Women’s Forum |
| Judy Kaplan Warner | Kathleen Patten President & CEO American Target Advertising, Inc. |
| The Honorable Douglas Domenech Former Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Former Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Dept. of the Interior |
Dr. Dan Eichenbaum President DrDansFreedomForum.com |
| Margaret Byfield Executive Director American Stewards of Liberty |
The Honorable Jon Hawkins Representative Utah House of Representatives |
All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only.
Signatures updated: 9/5/22
