After Trump killed a first-of-its-kind report on nature in the US, legions of scientists are now working to publish it independently.
In 2023, OGN reported that the United States was beginning an important new initiative to protect its natural resources by setting out on a comprehensive effort “to take stock of nature and nature’s benefits.” The study's objective was to provide an all-encompassing perspective on biodiversity and to highlight the intrinsic value that the species and environments of the nation offer to everyone's lives.
However, Trump has signed an executive order to stop the study. In response, more than 150 scientists have came together to voluntarily spend thousands of hours compiling this assessment of nature in the U.S. to reveal how lands, water, and wildlife are currently faring, are expected to change, and what that means for human beings.
After the executive order, the scientists agreed they needed to continue to create the National Nature Assessment independently, adhering to the same rigorous standards required of any scientific study. The authors, researching topics like “the dependence of the economy on nature” believe the assessment can help solve one of humanity’s most pressing issues: the loss of nature and biodiversity.
This assessment, once completed and published, will help provide a more complete picture of where the U.S. stands on this hugely important subject.
“We just want to make sure that whatever product is produced really has the potential to move the needle on the conversations, all the way from the dinner table in individual families to the halls of Congress,” Chris Field, director of the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University, told the New York Times.
Danielle Ignace, an associate professor in the department of forest resources at the University of Minnesota, said her team felt the importance of the work more strongly than ever. “It’s a calling to this cause to see this through,” Dr. Ignace said. “We’re not going to stop.”
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