Our Mission
The mission of the Friends of the Nebraska Environmental Trust is to protect the integrity and promises of the Nebraska Environmental Trust through advocacy for good governance and public engagement to assure the Trust's efforts are consistent with the Nebraska Environmental Trust Act to conserve, enhance and restore Nebraska's environment.
History of The Friends of The Nebraska Environmental Trust
Several concerned citizens came together in June of 2020 after recognizing the Board of The Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund was not following its statutory authority, rules and regulations, bylaws, and policies and procedures. Specifically, the Friends did not approve of the Board’s action defunding five projects that received high point scores by the Board’s Grant Review Committee. These projects allocated $900,000 to continue restoration of rare saline wetlands in Lancaster County, $834,000 for three marsh restoration projects by Ducks Unlimited and $117,000 for the Nebraska Land Trust to finance a conservation easement to maintain a 2,900- acre ranch that features bighorn sheep habitat and a publicly accessible trout stream. These projects ranked Number 7 to Number 36 out of 120 applicants. The Board shifted $1.8 million over three years to a project ranked 78th among the 120 applicants. The project was proposed by Green Plains Inc., one of Nebraska’s largest ethanol companies, in collaboration with the Nebraska Department of Energy and Environment.
The Nebraska Environmental Act explicitly establishes criteria for determining the eligibility of projects for grant assistance. (Nebraska Statute 81-15,176). The award to Green Plains violated the provision that “grants shall not pay for projects which provide primarily private benefits.” Furthermore, the statute states “grants shall not pay for projects which have direct beneficiaries who could afford the cost of the benefits without experiencing serious financial hardship.” The primary beneficiaries were gas stations who would receive pumps for blending ethanol into their gasoline. Ethanol producers would also increase their markets this way.
Separate from the actions of the Friends, individuals sued the Trust Board which led to the withdrawal of the Green Plains/NDEE grant. They also sued over procedural issues including violation of the Open Meetings Act. The Judge found for the plaintiffs.
The Friends have reviewed all statutes, rules and regulations, bylaws, and policies and procedures and suggested some changes in policy. We have also reviewed past reports and grant documents of the Trust. The Friends have attended all meetings of the Board since organizing in 2020 and have publicized issues we believe deserve public attention. We continue to monitor actions of the Board. The same Board members who took actions that led to the lawsuit remain on the Board. The Trust’s Executive Director resigned under Board pressure and other key staff have resigned in protest. The search for a new Director closed October 22 ,2021 and Karl Elmshaeuser was named the Executive Director of the Nebraska Environmental Trust at the December 2, 2021 meeting.
Former Governor Ricketts and some members of the NET Board continue to oppose the use of conservation easements for unclear reasons. Conservation easements have proven to be an effective tool for landowners and benefit the larger society. Yet the Board continues to be pressured to refrain from funding easements. Governor Pillen, being a farmer, is more likely to understand the individual property rights of landowners and recognize farmers and ranchers have legitimate and financially sound reasons for creating easements.
The Friends will continue to inform the public and attempt to work with the Board to get them back on track following the law and its intent. We will also communicate with elected officials as appropriate.
We are a nonprofit citizen-led organization with a 501C3 designation. Four of our nine Board members are former Environmental Trust Fund Board members and three are former state senators. We welcome you to join us as we work to Restore the Trust. We hope to see positive change in the Trust where our group is no longer necessary, but we don’t expect that to happen overnight. There is still plenty to do.
