Crapo, Risch, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Protect Western Lands from Radical Environmental Activists

Washington, D.C.-- Senate Western Caucus members Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) and additional Caucus members John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) in introducing the Protect America’s Lands Act, which would amend the Securities Exchange Act to prohibit a national securities exchange like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) from listing Natural Asset Companies (NACs).  NACs create a financial vehicle for radical environmental activists to raise capital to seize public and private lands throughout the West and restrict energy production, grazing, mining, recreation and additional economic development.

“Idahoans who live and work on and near the land are best equipped to drive collaborative land management decisions that consider an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach to public lands management,” said Crapo.  “Enabling NACs to be listed on the NYSE would threaten local decision making and the multiple-use designations of public lands in Idaho by allowing private corporations and foreign investors to manage federal land. We must protect our environment in a manner that ensures the vitality of our forests and rangelands and protects the rights of property owners while maintaining public access and resilient, self-sustaining economies for our rural communities.”

“Decisions on how to manage our public lands should come from Idahoans—not activist investors. We must stop radical environmentalism from impeding on the integral role working lands play in Western economies, including Idaho’s,” said Risch. “The Protecting America’s Lands Act will prevent Wall Street from managing public lands in favor of their green agenda and protect mining, timber, grazing, and other multiple uses.”

“Wyoming’s economy depends on access to federal land as our landscapes generate income for multiple industries and draw thousands of people to the Cowboy State each year,” said Lummis. “Allowing NACs to be listed on stock exchanges would create a backdoor way for activist liberal investors to implement the Green New Deal by locking up millions of acres of land. The people of Wyoming will always be the best stewards of our land, not activists and certainly not foreign nationals.”

Background:

The Protect America’s Lands Act would amend the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit the listing and trading of NACs on a national securities exchange.

On October 4, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published the NYSE’s notice of a proposed rule change that would allow the exchange to list NACs, enabling them to raise the capital to buy land and potentially gain control over national parks, federal land and even private land. 

In November 2023, Crapo and Risch sent a letter with Senator Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) to the SEC raising concerns over the proposal.  The NYSE withdrew the rule proposal in January 2024.

Text of the bill can be found HERE. 

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