A bold plan to protect the outdoors
Protecting America’s lands and oceans is essential to solving the climate impacts and environmental crisis that threatens many of the outdoor activities we build our lifestyles around in the West. That’s why outdoor voters overwhelmingly support a bold and ambitious goal to protect 30 percent of America’s water and lands by 2030. 86 percent of voters in the United States support a national 30x30 goal1. Learn more about the 30x30 plan to protect the outdoors, the types of places ready for protection, and the road to get there.
Keeping our lands open, safe and clean
Protecting our public lands and water is only the first step. Outdoor lifestyles require lands that are well funded in order to expand access, ensure they are maintained, and open open to a diverse community of outdoor enthusiasts. Outdoor voters strongly favor proven programs to fund and expand access, like the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which 74 percent of Westerners want to see fully and permanently funded2. They also want to see more funding to take care of maintenance backlogs and provide needed resources to enforce environmental, water and wildlife protection laws. Efforts by state and local governments to fund land protection are also popular in the West. 81 percent of Western voters support increased spending on public lands2. Learn more about the importance of funding to keep our lands open, safe and clean.
Curbing dangerous energy extraction
Outdoor enthusiasts might be surprised to learn the extent of oil and gas extraction that occurs on or near some of our most cherished public lands. The outdoor activities we love depend on keeping energy development away from the places it should not be. Responsible energy development requires taking the maximum steps so that oil and gas extraction where it occurs is safe, deferential to the surrounding environment and wildlife, and provides the public with a fair return for the use of resources. Outdoor voters show strong support for a variety of common sense regulations and restrictions on energy development on public lands. 74 percent of Westerners2 support increasing royalties for oil, gas, and coal extraction on public lands, while 88 percent support requiring oil and gas companies to detect and repair gas leaks in equipment3. Learn more about what it takes to curb dangerous energy extraction.
1. “Center for American Progress: “How Much Nature Should America Keep?“