Watching this latest life-giving snowstorm falling outside my window, I’m reminded how tied we are to such gifts of nature.

Yes, I’ll gladly shovel the snow. Far better than choking on forest fire smoke this coming summer. Despite the lack of sunshine, it’s clearly a new day in America. The Biden Administration offers hope that Americans who value our wild lands and wild creatures will see healthier, science-based conservation directives from our federal agencies.

And not a moment too soon. A global biodiversity crisis, largely driven by human activities, is degrading ecosystems on land and at sea and accelerating climate change.

Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Lafayette) recently reintroduced a resolution to create a National Biodiversity Strategy, calling for a national commitment to addressing a problem decades in the making that threatens not only wildlife and public lands but the well-being of our own communities as well. President Joe Biden has already made a good start by expressing his support to protect 30% of American lands and waters by the year 2030, a goal supported by 81% of Coloradoans, according to a 2021 Conservation in the West poll.

I urge our representatives to support the President’s pledge and to take up the existential cause of developing a National Biodiversity Strategy. Now is the time to restore America’s historic role in conservation leadership.

Clint McKnightDurango