 Spotlighting the Work to Restore, Connect, and Conserve 30 Percent of Lands and Waters by 2030�
News and Updates
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The Biden-Harris administration launched a $1 billion America the Beautiful Challenge that will leverage federal conservation and restoration investments with private and philanthropic contributions to accelerate land, water and wildlife conservation efforts across the country. The challenge is anchored by an initial commitment of $440 million of federal resources, including $375 million from the Department of the Interior in Ecosystem Restoration funds for states, Tribes and territories from the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program, administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, will support locally led ecosystem restoration projects that invest in watershed restoration, resilience, equitable access, workforce development, corridors and connectivity, and collaborative conservation.
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Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland visited New Orleans to commemorate an historic expansion of Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge and highlighted the Biden-Harris administration�s ongoing efforts to provide equitable access to nature and its benefits. At an event with elected officials, community leaders and Fish and Wildlife Service employees, Secretary Haaland celebrated news that the Refuge�� unique in that it is entirely contained within the city of New Orleans � has acquired the Little Pine Island tract, a 2,500-acre addition of tidal marshes and hardwood forests to Bayou Sauvage.
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Secretary Haaland announced�several actions�the Department is taking to advance its work on wildlife corridors, including new science, additional funding for projects led by states and Tribes and new partnerships to expand work with Tribal nations. The Secretary made the announcements during a virtual event with wildlife conservation leaders from the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, Native American Fish and Wildlife Society and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Enhancing wildlife corridors and habitat connectivity is an early focus of the America the Beautiful initiative and serves as an opportunity to embrace the voluntary conservation efforts of farmers, ranchers and forest owners; the leadership of sovereign Tribal Nations; the contributions and stewardship traditions of America�s hunters, anglers and fishing communities; and the collaboration between states, local communities and federal agency partners.
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Secretary Haaland and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams celebrated the Rappahannock Tribe�s reacquisition of 465 acres at Fones Cliffs, a sacred site to the Tribe located on the eastern side of the Rappahannock River in Virginia. Fones Cliffs is home to one of the largest nesting populations of bald eagles on the Atlantic coast. Located within the authorized boundary of the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, the land will be owned by the Rappahannock Tribe and held with a permanent conservation easement conveyed to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The April celebration acknowledged the many individuals and organizations that made the reacquisition of homelands possible, as well as the Biden-Harris administration�s commitment to support Tribally-led conservation.
A beach that was once a haven for Black music and celebrations will now be a place for anyone to come and learn about Black history along the Chesapeake Bay. That five-acre piece of waterfront land on the Bay, Elktonia Beach, will turn into a park with access to the water. �It�s a dream come true,� said Vince Leggett, the founder and president of Blacks of the Chesapeake. The land, he said, was purchased for around $7 million. The City of Annapolis, Blacks of the Chesapeake, Chesapeake Conservancy and the state of Maryland entered into an agreement with the Conservation Fund to acquire the property through a patchwork of funding, including federal, state and city Program Open Space funds.
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The Biden-Harris administration submitted to Congress the President�s Budget for fiscal year 2023. The President�s Budget details his vision to expand on the historic progress our country has made over the last year and deliver the agenda he laid out in his State of the Union address � to build a better America, reduce the deficit, reduce costs for families and grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out.
The Department of the Interior�s 2023 budget proposal totals $18.1 billion � an increase of $2.9 billion, or 19 percent, from the fiscal year 2022 continuing resolution and includes $4.9 billion needed for healthier lands, waters and ecosystems managed across Interior and broadens support for local conservation efforts through partnership and grant programs to meet the America the Beautiful initiative�s goal to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
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