In a Sep. 19 letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) expressed concerns about implementation of the SUSTAINS Act, a bill signed into law as part of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The law allows private entities to choose and then fund USDA conservation programs, with negative implications for landowners.

In the letter, Sen. Ricketts said he supports voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs; however, he warned that allowing corporations to trade "environmental assets," such as carbon-offset credits, could lead to a type of monetization of natural processes that could undermine the autonomy of private landowners to manage their properties.

Ricketts outlined several suggestions for the USDA's implementation of the law. He said that any benefits resulting from conservation programs should directly benefit landowners. He also said that farmers and ranchers are the best stewards of their land, and should therefore be central to any decision-making process under the Act. 

Other elected officials have expressed concerns over the emphasis on monetizing nature under the SUSTAINS Act.  Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks earlier in the week sent a letter to the USDA in which he said the Department’s plan would “devastate Utah’s rural economy."

“The financialization of nature represents a dangerous and misguided approach to land management and sustainability,” Oaks wrote.