A far-right anti-conservation group is being paid tens of thousands in taxpayer money by various Western counties to spread conspiracy theories about President Joe Biden's conservation policies, reported The Daily Beast on Tuesday — even comparing them to genocide.
"The Biden administration’s '30 by 30' plan is a voluntary environmental program with a goal of conserving 30 percent of the country’s land and water by 2030. But anti-conservation groups have a darker interpretation of the initiative. One group, American Stewards of Liberty (ASL), has whipped up opposition to the plan, with leaders comparing the program to genocide," reported Kelly Weill. "At least five counties that signed onto ASL’s anti-30 by 30 effort this summer have paid ASL tens of thousands in recent months. Another has earmarked unspecified funds for the group. Others have indicated involvement in a potential ASL lawsuit over federal conservation efforts, with the planning director of one ASL-aligned county announcing that the suit would be funded by counties connected to the oil and gas industries."
At its events, ASL has reportedly pushed theories comparing land conservation programs to the Holodomor, a genocide by famine conducted by the Soviet Union against Ukraine — and they are scheduled to push a conspiracy theory film by the misinformation outlet the Epoch Times, suggesting billionaires are plotting to draw down the world's food supply and force people to eat insects.
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One ASL activist, Trent Loos, told The Daily Beast that "the natural state of the United States before Lewis and Clark was a horrific place ... even Lewis and Clark had to eat horses to get across mountain ranges. So to return it to its natural state is to regress us by 250 years.”
In recent years, ASL has sought to push itself more squarely into mainstream conservative circles, but has suffered setbacks as governors and members of Congress have withdrawn from working with the group.
This comes as other groups, like Moms for Liberty, continue to embed themselves in GOP politics around the country and set policy at the local level.
