Anti-conservation group American Stewards of Liberty is waging a misleading war against the Biden administration’s historic 30×30 land conservation efforts. Falsely labeling it as a “land grab,” the group even holds sessions where it indoctrinates attendees with misinformation and instructs them on strategies for fighting the proposal. An attendee of one session compared 30×30 to genocide under Stalin — to which the group’s founder Margaret Byfield agreed. 

“Given the choice between fighting climate change and preserving the American landscape for future generations by advancing the Biden administration’s 30×30 conservation plan, American Stewards of Liberty is hellbent on lining the pockets of special interests at the expense of taxpayers and our environment,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. 

30×30 is a conservation effort to protect 30% of lands and ocean by the year 2030. 

Burger Bans And Land Grabs: The Right’s Deceptive War Against Biden’s Climate Goals 

Republicans in Congress are parroting an anti-conservation group’s talking points about the White House’s goal of protecting 30% of lands and waters by 2030. 

By Chris D’Angelo

A right-wing, anti-federal lands group is leading a disinformation campaign against the Biden administration’s effort to protect 30% of America’s lands and oceans by 2030. 

The “30×30” initiative aims to combat the dual climate and extinction crises and is backed by scientists, environmental groups and hundreds of state and local leaders. President Joe Biden set the national target in January, part of a rash of early environmental executive orders.  

Since then, American Stewards of Liberty, a little-known Texas group with ties to both the Trump administration and the fossil fuel industry, has worked to drum up opposition at the county and state level. It has characterized the proposal as a federal “land grab” ― before the Biden administration has even unveiled details about how it plans to achieve its goals ― and stoked fear in rural communities across the West and Midwest. 

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