Amid Trump’s assault on public lands, California conserves over one million acres of land and coastal waters in just one year
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Jul 7, 2025

Amid Trump's assault on public lands, California conserves over one million acres of land and coastal waters in just one year

What you need to know: California added area the equivalent of Glacier National Park to its conserved lands and coastal waters in just the last year – marking significant progress toward its goal of 30% conservation by 2030.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced California protected over one million acres of land and coastal waters in the last year, marking significant progress toward the state's goal of conserving 30% of its lands and coastal waters by 2030. The amount of land and water protected in the last year is equivalent to the size of Glacier National Park.

Today's announcement comes as the Trump administration continues its assault on public lands and National Parks. Last month, the Newsom administration sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior warning of public safety risks and reduced access due to major cuts proposed to staff and programs that support National Parks and other federal public lands. In contrast, California is expanding access to the outdoors, investing in communities and laying the groundwork for further expansion.

The state's 2025 30×30 Progress Report released today marks the halfway point toward the state's goal of conserving 30% of its lands and coastal waters by 2030. The report shows significant progress: as of June 2025, 26.1% of California's lands and 21.9% of its coastal waters are now under long-term conservation and care, bringing the state well within reach of its 30×30 target.

"President Trump and radical Republicans may not see the value of protecting our lands and waters but California does. We've conserved millions of acres of lands and coastal waters – adding an area equivalent to Glacier National Park in just the last year – and bolstered our partnerships with tribal nations and local communities. We're proving that conservation isn't just good for nature. It's critical for people, too."

Governor Gavin Newsom

Since Governor Newsom launched California's 30×30 initiative in 2020, and with the passage of Senate Bill 337 in 2023, the state has made historic investments and thousands of Californians have come together to protect the landscapes that make California unique. The 2025 report shows:
  • An additional 853,000 acres of land and 191,000 acres of coastal waters were counted as conserved over the past year — equivalent in size to Glacier National Park.
  • Significant progress on 104 of the 112 action steps in the Pathways to 30×30 strategy, the state's roadmap released in 2022 to guide implementation.
  • For the first time, major additions to marine conservation areas, following extensive tribal consultation, scientific guidance, and public input.

"This progress report reflects years of hard work by thousands of Californians, from tribal leaders to ranchers, scientists to surfers," said California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot. "But it's a midpoint, not a finish line but through continued work together we will achieve this important target."

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Key 2025 highlights include:
  • California funds record levels of conservation, including Wildlife Conservation Board grants supporting the acquisition of ~50,000 acres, with approximately $180 million state dollars leveraging around $120 million of funding from other sources. These investments conserve key wildlife corridors, wetlands and creeks; build infrastructure that ensures access to nature for all; and returns ancestral lands to California Native American tribes.
  • Increased tribal partnership through historic levels of ancestral land return, co-management agreements, and bringing beneficial fire back to the landscape to restore healthy forests. More than 150 years after California banned the practice of cultural burning, California can now enter into agreements with federally recognized tribes—honoring tribal sovereignty, healing historical wrongs, and benefiting biodiversity. The Karuk Tribe established the first agreement in February 2025, which empowered tribal cultural fire practitioners to conduct burns using Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
  • Passage of Proposition 4, the $10 billion Climate Bond approved by voters in November, which will drive continued progress on 30×30, climate resilience and wildfire preparedness.
  • The launch of a new marine conservation framework, adding thousands of acres of coastal waters as 30×30 Conservation Areas. This action plan identifies new potential 30×30 designations and engages with previously designated areas to ensure meaningful biodiversity outcomes and balanced sustainable ocean uses, where appropriate.
  • Recognition of California's Marine Protected Area Network, a critical component of our 30×30 strategy in coastal waters, as the international gold standard for marine conservation. This network was officially accepted to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas, a high-profile international certification that recognizes the most successful examples of biodiversity conservation worldwide.

The progress outlined in the report reflects the work, leadership and deep collaboration among tribal governments, local communities, landowners, conservation organizations, scientists, and public agencies. Over the past three years, California has allocated more than $1.3 billion in state funding to support 30×30 implementation. This is on top of the state's historic investment of more than $1 billion for expanding parks and nature access, including to Californians who live in underserved communities.

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