As of: October 8th, 2021 5:49 pm
US President Biden wants to restore three nature reserves that were reduced in size by his predecessor Trump. The goal is better protection and conservation of land and waters, said the White House.
His predecessor Donald Trump had it drastically reduced by decree in 2017 – now US President Joe Biden has announced that he will restore and even expand three nature reserves. The measure affects the areas of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in the US state of Utah and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts marine reserve in the Atlantic, as the White House announced.
Biden is thus continuing his departure from the policies of his predecessor, who had scaled back numerous environmental protection measures. Trump argued at the time that the people of Utah knew much better what was good for their country than bureaucrats in distant Washington.
Environmentalists, on the other hand, stated that protection was crucial in order to prevent intensive mining and the search for mineral resources, which would have a significant impact on the environment and the landscape. The areas are among the most scenic in the USA.
Utah Conservation Area is expanding
The Grand Staircase-Escalante area is now expected to return to its original area of more than 750,000 hectares. Trump had reduced the protection zone by about 45 percent and justified this with “unnecessary restrictions” for hunting and cattle breeding.
According to Biden’s plans, the Bears Ears reserve is to be enlarged to 550,000 hectares. That is bigger than before Trump’s decision to downsize the nature reserve. Bears Ears was declared a nature reserve in 2016 under Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama. Grand Staircase-Escalante became a nature reserve under President Bill Clinton in 1996. Both nature reserves with their spectacular landscape are also of great importance for the indigenous people.
Praise and criticism for decision
Environmentalists welcomed Biden’s decision to enlarge the nature reserves. Criticism came from conservative senators and MPs who represent Utah in the US Congress in Washington. Biden’s decision was a “devastating blow” to their efforts to find a “permanent, legislative solution to the long-running dispute over the borders and management” of the two nature reserves.
In addition to the two areas in Utah, the Biden government is also restoring the status of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts marine reserve. There, the commercial catch of red crabs and American lobsters will slowly be reduced until it will be completely banned from September 2023. Recreational fishing is not affected. The area is home to numerous rare and threatened species, including deep-sea corals and whales.
Again full protection and full size for three natural monuments
Julia Kastein, ARD Washington, October 8th, 2021 7:45 p.m.