California: 30 by 30

What is 30 by 30 and what does MBCA have to do with it?

The “30 by 30” effort began as an international movement to set aside 30 percent of the earth’s land area to preserve wildlife habitat and protect against climate change. It also recognizes the rights, stewardship, and experience of indigenous peoples in managing natural resources. It prioritizes ensuring that the benefits of cleaner lands, waters, and air are shared by all.

California is the first in the nation to commit to protecting 30% of our lands and waters by 2030 (Gavin Newsom executive order October 2020). In January of 2021 the Biden administration issued an Executive Order on tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad and committed the United States to 30x30.

Why is this important? "Because our land and waters contain the planet’s biodiversity — from the smallest organisms to the largest predators. When species are diminished, it affects whole ecosystems, and when ecosystems suffer, their ability to provide clean water, clean air, pollination and the many other functions we rely on is vastly reduced," according to Noelle Chambers, vice president of conservation for Peninsula Open Space Trust.

Updated news about California's 30 by 30 will be posted below.

(Word Cloud graphic from 30x30 California)

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Google Earth Maps

MBCA is happy to provide a new tool to the public --Google Earth Pro maps related to the Mojave Desert and California. These maps include light pollution, terrestrial corridors (wildlife corridors) and local groundwater basins, among other topics. Below you'll find instructions on how to use these maps.

Instructions for Use

1.To use the map files, you must first install Google Earth Pro on your computer.

It is a free program that will work both on MAC and PC computers.

You may download the program here: https://www.google.com/earth/versions/#earth-pro

Please follow the prompts to install. After downloading the program, proceed to Step 2.

2. To use the files MBCA created, you must store (download) them on your computer.

1. Go to our online folder to locate the map files.

2. Download a map from the folder by right-clicking (control-click for Macs)on it, and selecting Download from the options.

3. To view the downloaded files, launch Google Earth Pro.

1. From Google Earth Pro, select FILE>OPEN.

2. Navigate to the downloaded files in your folder and click OPEN.

3. This can be repeated for each file.

4. To save the files in your version of Google Earth Pro, select YES when closing the application.

If you're wondering about the source files for these maps, here is an Excel/Google Sheets file with source information for each map. When locating geospatial data most of the time it comes in a professional GIS data format. These files have been converted and optimized for Google Earth Pro viewing.

Here are image samples of many of the maps.

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MBCA Directors Work to Improve California's 30x30 Plan

Posted by Laraine Turk · August 26, 2022 3:31 PM

Four MBCA board members continue to be involved in the planning and response for California’s 30x30 Project. The project was developed from Governor Newsom’s 2020 Executive Order N-82-20 which establishes a state goal of conserving 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030.

Arch McCulloch, Brian Hammer, Pat Flanagan and Gary Stiler are most concerned about some challenges in recognizing the importance and contours of the desert within the plan. "Our biggest concern is they don't acknowledge the desert as a whole, they only acknowledge a piece of it. Nor does the state acknowledge that the CA Desert sequesters 10% of the state's carbon. We want them to explore what's there," reports Flanagan.

In a February 2022 letter co-signed by MBCA, desert groups complained about "ecological fragmentation of the California desert" in an earlier version of the 30x30 plan, as Death Valley was considered part of the Sierra Nevada area and Anza Borrego was attached to the San Diego section. This issue was not corrected in the final plan (PDF).

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Letter: Statewide Response to Draft 30 x 30 Pathways Report

Posted by Laraine Turk · February 15, 2022 7:39 PM
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Letter: Coalition on 30 by 30 Strategy

Posted by Laraine Turk · September 03, 2021 7:29 PM
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