A conservation initiative of the Biden Administration would increase federal ownership of land, which private land groups believe would undermine private property rights.

The Administration’s 30x30 program is aimed at conserving, connecting, and restoring 30% of the nation's lands and waters by the year 2030. Congress is debating a number of issues related to the initiative, including the extent of federal ownership of lands, and whether the program should be rolled back.

The federal government owns approximately 640 million acres of land in the United States, which accounts for about 28% of the total 2.27 billion acres. Management of the lands involve multiple federal agencies, each with  specific mandates and responsibilities. Four agencies administer 606.5 million acres, including the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and the Forest Service. 

The Department of Defense, excluding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, manages 8.8 million acres, which are primarily used for military bases, training ranges, and other facilities.

Multiple reports from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have raised concerns about the government's lack of knowledge about its own property holdings. The reports found that the government has no clear idea of the extent of its property ownership, where properties are located, who is managing them, their conditions, and how they are utilized.

According to Greg Walcher, president of the Natural Resources Group, "it must be difficult, nay impossible, to manage property officials don’t know they have, or for which there is no government purpose."

Despite the concerns, the Biden Administration is pushing ahead with its plan. This includes the use of conservation easements to expand government ownership. The agreements between landowners and the government allow for the permanent conservation of land while providing the landowner with a one-time tax deduction. 

Under these agreements, landowners agree to give up certain development rights on their property in exchange for the government assuming permanent control and ownership of the easements. This effectively allows the government to restrict certain activities on the land, such as development or mining, in order to protect natural resources and wildlife habitats. 

Property rights advocates have introduced a new approach that seeks to balance national conservation interests with the interests of private landowners. 

The proposed approach involves limiting the duration of federal easements on private properties to 30 years. They propose that a “sunset" clause be added to new land easements to allow states to preserve the rights of landowners.  The sunset provisions would ensure that federal conservation efforts do not become permanent fixtures on private properties. 

In addition, by limiting the duration of federal easements, landowners would have the ability to make changes that may improve conservation and other land use priorities for future generations.