LINCOLN — Members of a watchdog group are labeling a letter penned by Gov. Jim Pillen to the Nebraska Environmental Trust Board as “unusual” and as “political interference.”
Pillen gave final approval in August to an update of the rules and regulations that govern the Trust, which doles out about $20 million a year in grants to environmental, conservation and research groups.
But the approval came with a letter — said to be a rare addition in the rule-making process — in which the Republican governor and hog producer called on the Trust’s board to grant money for capital improvements and for projects that provide the biggest impact and “long-term public benefit.”
Avoid money for operations
The letter also urged the board — of which 12 of the 14 members are either appointed or hired by the governor — to avoid grants to “recurring entities” for operating expenses.
“Providing long-term public access to and environmental benefits for these spaces should be the focus of awarding NET grant funding,” the letter stated.
While the governor has control over most of those who sit on the board, the openly dictatorial nature of the letter was criticized by members of the watchdog group “Friends of the Environmental Trust.”
The group, which has been critical of recent actions by the Trust, labeled the letter as “political interference” and “inappropriate” for a board that should objectively consider grant applications, both big and small.
The secretary of the Friends group, Randy Moody, who ran the campaign that led to voter approval of the Trust in 1993, said he’s not naive to think that the governor doesn’t have an influence on Trust board members’ decisions.
‘Blatant interference’
But he said Pillen’s letter was “blatant interference” for what should be independent grant decisions by the board.
“This is a non-subtle way to tell them what to do,” Moody said.
Moody added that the original purpose of the Trust was to support all kinds of environmental and conservation projects, not just the largest projects and those involving capital improvements.
A former state agency director involved with the Friends group, Dayle Williamson — who was also involved in establishing the Environmental Trust — said that such a letter from a governor to a state agency when signing off on rule changes was “really unusual.”
When rules are changed, it’s usually up to an agency to interpret how to comply with them, said former State Sen. Bob Wickersham, a founding member of the Friends group.
A spokeswoman for Pillen and representatives of the Trust dismissed the letter as nothing out of the ordinary.
Goal was clarification
Laura Strimple, the governor’s spokeswoman, said the governor’s letter was an effort to “clarify” the role of the Trust and emphasize that its purpose, as outlined in state statute, is to “provide a long-range environmental focus.”
The Trust, state statutes say, should help government and private efforts that provide “the greatest potential impact on future environmental quality in Nebraska.” One clause in the Trust’s rules calls for funding projects that provide “long term” benefits, defined as more than 10 years.
But the Trust’s rules also call for projects that provide “clear and direct” environmental benefits.
Karl Elmshaeuser, the executive director of the Trust, said the letter was simply a “cover letter” to the governor’s approval of the updated rules that wasn’t newsworthy.
Jim Hellbusch, a Columbus business owner who chairs the Environmental Trust Board, said he saw nothing improper in the letter.
“We’re going by the rules and regulations,” Hellbusch said. “How other people interpret that is up to them.”
It wouldn’t be the first time there’s been friction between the governor’s office and supporters of the Trust.
Past controversies
In 2021, then-Gov. Pete Ricketts refused to reappoint one board member, Gerry Lauritzen of Omaha, because she didn’t agree with the governor’s opposition to permanent conservation easements.
In the past, the Trust had granted funds for such easements, which allow a ranch or farm to prevent its land from being used for development, and provides some tax benefits.
Also in the past, the Trust had approved some grants for salaries and benefits for people working for a recycling or conservation group.
The Trust has come under fire in recent years for increasing the number of grant applications deemed “ineligible” for funding and for declining to grant out the entire $20 million it gets from the State Lottery each year. The denials have included some applications that had been approved in the past.
The Trust’s excess funds increased, prompting Pillen to gain approval this year to transfer $14 million from the Trust to the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. The move was slammed by critics as a “mockery” of the original intent of the Trust. The Pillen administration said the funds will be used for appropriate purposes, conserving the state’s natural resources.
Moody, then a lobbyist for the Nature Conservancy, helped get the legislation that set up the Trust passed in the Legislature three decades ago.
He said that the Trust has “gone overboard” in deeming too many grant applications ineligible or unworthy of funding and that the past two governors have exerted more influence on the board, steering benefits more toward agriculture and bigger projects, and less to the environment.
“The idea was to give the smaller entities an opportunity to participate as well,” Moody said. “It’s a call that should be made by the Trust Board and not the governor.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
