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The United States, the most powerful and advanced country in the world, will be voting on November 5, 2024, to elect its 47th president. It is a watershed election since the nation was founded after the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). But as each of the candidates have and continue to press their claims to be the next leader of the world’s most powerful democracy, let us examine five developments that defined river & wildlife protection in the outgoing Joe Biden White House (2020-2024).
1. Klamath river restoration:
The Klamath is a 414-kilometre-long river in the states of Oregon and California that flows through some of the most beautiful wilderness areas of the US. Between 1918 and 1962, four dams were built on this river for producing electricity.
These dams caused devastating impacts on salmon as well as local Native American tribes who call the river’s watershed their homelands.
After almost 20 years of negotiations between the tribes and the company operating the dams, the structures were removed by October this year in what has been called the largest dam removal in history.
Following the development, salmon have returned to the upper reaches of the river after 100 years.
2. Columbia river apology:
The federal government, under Joe Biden, recognised and acknowledged in 2024 the harm caused by its activities on the Columbia, the mighty river of the Pacific Northwest.
“Since time immemorial, Tribes along the Columbia River and its tributaries have relied on Pacific salmon, steelhead and other native fish species for sustenance and their cultural and spiritual ways of life. Acknowledging the devastating impact of federal hydropower dams on Tribal communities is essential to our efforts to heal and ensure that salmon are restored to their ancestral waters,” said Secretary Deb Haaland.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to honoring our federal commitments to Tribal Nations, the Interior Department will continue to pursue comprehensive and collaborative basin-wide solutions to restore native fish populations, empower Tribes, and meet the many resilience needs of communities across the region.”
3. America the Beautiful:
In April this year, the Biden White House announced Yesterday at the White House, the Biden Administration announced new national goals for the protection of rivers and freshwater resources as a part of its America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge.
They will include protection and restoration of 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of rivers by 2030.
Tom Kiernan, president and chief executive of non-profit American Rivers, termed it a ‘milestone moment’. “These are the boldest ever goals for clean water and rivers put forth by an administration,” he said.
4. The US Arctic Ocean:
Using his authority under Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Biden designated approximately 2.8 million acres of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean as indefinitely off limits for future oil and gas leasing, completing protections for the entire US Arctic Ocean.
5. Endangered Species Act:
In March this year, the Biden White House strengthened protections under the Endangered Species Act. It did so by repealing rules made during the previous Donald Trump White House to strip plants and animals of safeguards.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) finalised three rules that will restore important protections for species and their habitats; strengthen the processes for listing species, designating of critical habitat, and consultation with other federal agencies; and ensure a science-based approach that will improve both agencies’ ability to fulfill their responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act.
The 51-year-old Act is credited with reviving populations of the California Condor as well as the iconic symbol of America, the American Bald Eagle.