
A Plan for the U.S. Forest Service To Lead on the America the Beautiful Initiative
National forests and grasslands are uniquely positioned to help meet the Biden administration’s goal of conserving 30 percent of U.S. lands by 2030.
Ryan Richards is a senior policy analyst for Public Lands at American Progress, focusing on natural resource economics and markets. His work covers a variety of environmental policy topics, including water policy, ecosystem restoration, and private lands conservation.
Prior to joining American Progress, Richards worked on wildlife conservation projects domestically and internationally. Most recently, he conducted his doctoral research on incentive programs to encourage reforestation on farms in the watershed supplying drinking water for the city of São Paulo. He was a Fulbright visiting researcher at the University of São Paulo’s Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture and the Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas in Brazil.
He spent six years with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute as a graduate research fellow and a program associate for the Global Tiger Initiative. He has also worked on habitat restoration projects with farmers in Namibia and California’s Central Valley.
He holds a Ph.D. from George Mason University, where he focused on environmental economics and policy. He also received an M.S. in conservation biology and an M.P.P. in environmental policy from the University of Maryland and a B.S. in wildlife biology from the University of California, Davis.
National forests and grasslands are uniquely positioned to help meet the Biden administration’s goal of conserving 30 percent of U.S. lands by 2030.
The America the Beautiful initiative can turn U.S. lands from a ticking climate bomb—instigated by nature loss and increasing wildfires—into a reliable and growing carbon sink.
As the Leaders’ Climate Summit approaches, the Biden administration should consider every available option to promote effective conservation and sustainable development in the Amazon.
Protecting 30 percent of U.S. lands by 2030 is a necessary step to protect and expand American’s carbon sink.
To save family farms, ranches, and rural communities from economic collapse, the United States should launch a major effort—a “Race for Nature”—that pays private landowners to protect the water, air, and natural places that everyone needs to stay healthy.
Policies to improve soil health and sequester carbon can drive an additional $8 billion annually to rural communities and create close to $22,000 a year in added revenue for the average family farm.
To slow the loss of America’s wildlife and natural areas, scientists recommend conserving 30 percent of lands and oceans by 2030. This goal is ambitious, but achievable.
Federal and state agencies need to take action to ensure that all communities are prepared for the next wildfire season.
Federal and state agencies need to ensure that vulnerable communities are able to recover during and after the next wildfire.
As the United States undertakes an unprecedented elimination of protected areas, Canada and Mexico are emerging as North America’s leaders in the conservation of lands and oceans.