Throughout the process of the push for the Kansas Nebraska Heritage Area Partnership (KNHAP), the group that is wanting this designation has sworn up and down that the National heritage Area(NHA) designation has nothing to do with the 30×30 executive order signed by Joe Biden. On the surface, this is the truth. The NHA was touted as a “new type of park” started in the 1980’s and the “How Much Nature Should America Keep” Center for American Progress report(the reasoning behind 30×30) hadn’t been written at that point. But the National Parks Service was involved with NHAs in various ways. Let’s fast forward from the 1980’s. Where the Center for American Progress has published a paper called; “How much Nature Should America Keep”. This paper is based mainly on opinion papers and less on scientific facts and research. But it is pushing to take 30% of the land and water under government control by 2030.
The 30×30 (Also called America the Beautiful) isn’t clear on what land is to be targeted but it will be OFF LIMITS to most human use! That means if your farm is in that area, you don’t farm anymore. There is some questions about lands such as National Parks, wilderness areas, permanent conservation easements, state parks, national wildlife refuges, national monuments and other protected areas will be used as part of the 30×30. So our national parks may become off limits as well as other areas and what does “other protected areas” mean? In the broad spectrum of things it could include National Heritage Areas. Why not? the National Parks has their fingers already on some NHAs and with the Nature Conservancy purchasing conservation easements, you could find yourself right between easements that restrict what you can do on your land because of the easements! Or worse yet, CRP land that people sign up for could become part of the plan! IF you have recently signed up for a new CRP contract, you better check the fine print to see if there is anything in it about endangered or threatened species and you would be in for a mess. You can also forget about those wonderful hunting areas that will be shut down.
National Heritage Areas are designated areas that are ‘to help economic development and increase tourism’. Or rather, this is how they are ‘sold to the public’. They are designations that prevent industry or things that don’t fit with the theme of the area, such as new cell towers. Sadly, Kansas already has a NHA and it is called Freedoms Frontier National Heritage Areas that includes 19 MILLION acres that covers 29 Kansas counties and 12 Missouri counties. Amazingly, only one county in this designation has financially benefitted from the NHA designation and that is Douglass county (Lawrence, Kansas). Why haven’t the other counties benefitted? Crazy as it seems, counties don’t even know they are in that NHA designation! WHY is that?
Not only is the language similar between the NHAs and 30×30, they also have similar players. The Nature Conservancy is one main player that has in the past been used by the National Parks Service to purchase Conservation Easements and then the Nature Conservancy sells those easements to the National Parks Service. Other players in the came include the League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society Action Fund, The Wildlands Network and Center for Biological Diversity, just to name a a few. AS many can recognize they are environmental groups that usually go overboard with their beliefs and they have a tendency to say animal agriculture is bad for the environment (We will look at animal agriculture later in another post.).
Looking at the Senate Bill 1942, you will find that the re-authorization of NHAs will put all control of the NHA’s into the hands of the Department of Interior (National Parks is under DOI) and the funding will be through them. But let’s look back at the people who are pushing for the 30×30 and were co-sponsor of the Center for American Progress Report that the 30×30 is based upon. It was Co-sponsored by then Senator Kamala Harris who is now Vice President and former Representative Debra Haaland, who is current head of the Department of Interior! So, if SB 1942 passes and all NHAs are reauthorized (because NONE of them could become self-sufficient within the 15 year time frame) and with re-authorization, they will be funded through the Department of Interior budget and it is easy to see where this is heading.
The 30×30 WILL involve the NHAs through their special designations. According to the Center for American Progress Report (which by the way is based upon NO SCIENCE BUT OPINIONS) the 30×30 will include; “National Parks, wilderness areas, permanent conservation easements, state parks, national wildlife refuges, national monuments or other protected areas.”
We cannot let this slide! In fact, the newspapers are now printing articles touting the great ideas of conservation easements! While on the surface these easements look good and make some money, they will eventually remove some land from tax rolls OR lower the amount of taxes they pay, which is detrimental to the county tax coffers.
Regardless of what the KNHAP proponents say, with S.B. 1942 coming up, you cannot look at an NHA without looking at the 30×30 plan because they will both be administered by the Department of Interior if Senate Bill 1942 passes. You best get your phone calls into your Senators and Representatives in DC now.
Just so you can keep informed, the link below is from the Center for American Progress and it is the report (mainly opinions and little if any science) that is pushing for the government overreach and land grab.
Educated Cowpuncher 