Lake and meadow met, grass and cattails mingling along an undefined shoreline. There must have been birds there though all I remember is the croak of frogs as my hands finally grasped one — only to see it slip through my fingers. Nearly 40 years ago, this unsuccessful hunt was among the highlights of visiting a Sandhills ranch for the first time. Earlier this spring my wife and I drove past that place to watch migrating birds on a nearby lake. Conservation and stewardship have kept the area as fitting for raising cattle and hosting wildlife as when I first saw it.
The Morrill County operation I first saw as a boy was represented along with several dozen area farms and ranches June 8 at Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts’ town hall session. From a few children sitting down with their parents, elected officials, retired landowners and a range of others, the crowd packed the west end of the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center to hear about “America the Beautiful,” President Joe Biden’s 30 x 30 program to conserve 30 percent of America’s land and waters by 2030.
Ricketts voiced opposition in early May, calling the plan vague and said in a news release, “Nebraskans have rightly been concerned about President Biden’s radical climate agenda and his 30 x 30 plan.” The governor has worked to better inform Nebraskans about the issue through in-person sessions throughout the state.
Familiar faces to many in attendance joined the governor as Sherry Vinton, Nebraska Farm Bureau vice president who ranches south of Whitman, opened the meeting, and Jeff Metz, chairman of the Morrill County board of commissioners, offered his perspective from the county level.
Ricketts said 12 percent of what the federal government already owns (which is permanently protected) would count as part of 30 x 30. To reach 30 percent, 729 million acres (a figure he cited based on National Geographic data), he said that would be the equivalent of adding land mass the size of Nebraska each year for nine years. “America the Beautiful” and Biden’s Executive Order 14008 talk about “conserved” land rather than “protected,” without a specific definition of the former term and what level of conservation would count as part of the 30 percent.
While on vacation my family visited four national parks, camped over a week in national forests and saw areas under the Bureau of Land Management. I support keeping these areas accessible and would like to see expansion where it makes sense among the more than 400 parks, monuments and other sites in the National Parks system. In Nebraska, 97 percent of land is privately owned. The 30 x 30 plan sets its sights beyond expansion and looks to engage individual landowners as well as local communities at the municipality and county levels for conservation.
Vinton described how generations of Sandhills ranchers have had the “goal to pass the land down in better shape . . .” Discussion also held up examples of existing conservation practices on farmland such as CRP and EDGE.
While time will tell if land managed under CRP and other programs would count, or whether certain states are preferred to be part of the 30 percent, Ricketts advised his audience to:
> Read the fine prints of documents relating to land rights
> Work with county and local government, who have the ability to review and accept or deny conservation easements (if there is existing zoning language)
> Work with your county to pass a resolution in opposition to 30 x 30 (which Box Butte has)
> Support Nebraska’s federal delegation (members of congress)
The town hall concluded with the governor fielding questions. Though he has encountered pushback at other sessions to the effect of “you’re making too big of a deal, it’s all voluntary,” the vocal members of the audience here agreed with Ricketts.
Overall, the farmers and ranchers I have known are excellent stewards of their land and take pride in protecting the environment. If an individual, family or business wants to sell their land as a means to promote conservation under 30 x 30 in the coming years, the federal government needs to step up and pay property taxes at the same rate. Ricketts explained federal land purchases in Nebraska currently generate $2.50 per acre in lieu of taxes.
I am looking forward to details on “America the Beautiful” to see whether a federal conservation push would be of any benefit to our existing efforts or just stoke push back. To read the governor’s statement on 30 x 30, with a link to the report, visit governor.nebraska.gov