Washington, D.C. — Dozens of states across the country are stepping up with innovative solutions to conserve lands and waters, protecting natural resources and wildlife for future generations.
As momentum builds nationally to address the impact of climate change and stop the alarming loss of natural areas, a new report from the Center for American Progress and the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators reviews a variety of land conservation policy models that have been adopted at the state level—from the tried and true to creative new approaches—highlighting recent examples of each.
“While recent state actions are encouraging, more is still needed,” said Drew McConville, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and co-author of the report. “As the pace of nature loss and species extinctions grows, scaling up the impact will require even more committed leadership and deeper investment from governors and legislators, as well as effective support from Congress and federal agencies.”
The Biden administration has led the way on conservation at the federal level, with the America the Beautiful program aiming to conserve 30 percent of all U.S. lands and waters by 2030. And states such as California, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, and Vermont have all committed to goals that mirror the 30 percent by 2030 national target.
But many other states, spanning a wide range of geographies and political representation, have also taken major steps to conserve their lands and waters in recent years. The following are some recent conservation investments noted in the report:
- Last year, New Mexico launched a new permanent fund to conserve threatened landscapes, improve recreation access, and protect cultural heritage sites.
- Georgia established a dedicated funding stream for conservation projects in 2018.
- Colorado expanded tax credits for private land conservation in 2021.
- Texas voters approved $1 billion for state parks in 2023.
- Florida’s legislature invested more than $1 billion from 2021 to 2023 to complete a critical wildlife corridor.
“Gridlock at the federal level can make it seem like there’s a national division over whether or not to protect nature,” said Kate Burgess, conservation program manager for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators and a co-author of the report. “Thankfully, that’s not the reality on the ground. In states around the country, community and political leaders of all parties are stepping up to tackle the nature crisis head-on.”
Some of the policy models profiled in the report include:
- Statewide targets and conservation plans.
- Conservation funds.
- Outdoor equity funds.
- Tax incentives for conservation.
- Natural carbon sequestration.
- New state parks and conservation lands.
- State trust lands management.
- Tribal land return and co-management.
- Wildlife corridors and habitat connectivity.
Read the report: “State Policy Leadership To Conserve Nature: A Guide to Innovative Land Conservation Policy Tools Being Deployed by State and Territorial Governments Across the Country” by Drew McConville, Kate Burgess, and Mariel Lutz
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].