In the first three years, the Biden administration has protected millions of acres and spent billions on conservation.
Last year alone, the administration created four new national monuments and took other actions that jointly protected some 12.5 million acres of land. That鈥檚 according to a released last month by the progressive Center for American Progress.
鈥淧resident Biden is within striking distance of protecting the most acreage of U.S. public lands as national monuments of any recent president in their first terms,鈥� author Sam Zeno said.
That distinction is currently held by President Bill Clinton, according to a separate .
More than 24 million acres have been conserved or are in the process of being protected since Biden took office, the report found. Additionally, his administration has funded some $18 billion in conservation projects in all 50 states, a sum the center says is a new record for a first term.
Advocates are pushing for several monument designations or expansions in the West. And Zeno said they would add enough acreage for the administration to surpass Clinton鈥檚 first term.
For example, the in Arizona is roughly 440,000 acres, more than enough to close the 215,000-acre gap.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the .
