May 7th, 2021
By Lori Sallet
American Farmland Trust Applauds ‘Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful’ Report for Inclusion of Working Lands and Voluntary Conservation
This statement can be attributed Tim Fink, American Farmland Trust policy director
“We are pleased that the Administration’s release today of the ‘Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful’ report reflects our recommendations, and those of so many other conservation and agricultural groups. The report emphasizes the role that our nation’s farmers, ranchers, and foresters can play as essential partners in achieving the goal to ‘conserve at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030’.
“On April 6th, American Farmland Trust released ‘Agriculture’s Role in 30×30: Partnering with Farmers and Ranchers to Protect Land, Biodiversity, and the Climate’ outlining how our nation’s working lands can contribute to 30×30. In these comments, AFT recommended a voluntary, locally-led approach that capitalized on the immense potential of our existing conservation programs to sequester carbon and create habitat. We also underscored the threat posed by agricultural land loss and the importance of prioritizing biodiversity hotspots, key connectivity corridors and areas with high carbon sequestration potential.
“We applaud the Biden Administration for explicitly including these concepts in their report recommendations and look forward to working with them as they continue to develop the details of this important initiative.”
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American Farmland Trust is the only national conservation organization dedicated to protecting farmland, promoting environmentally sound farming practices and keeping farmers on the land. Since 1980, AFT’s innovative work has helped to permanently protect more than 6.8 million acres of farmland and ranchland and led the way for the adoption of conservation practices on millions more. No Farms, No Food. Learn more at www.farmland.org.