Natural asset companies would restore land, making money as it increases in value. But Utah’s leaders see them as an attempt to kill grazing and mining.
The companies would hold the rights to the land’s natural features and would improve the property through conservation, restoration and other sustainable activities. Investors would provide the funds for that work, then would benefit as the area — and theoretically their shares — increase in value. “Under the proposal, private interests, including foreign-controlled sovereign wealth funds, could use their capital to purchase or manage farmland, national and state parks, and other mineral-rich areas and stop essential economic activities like farming, grazing, and energy extraction,” Oakes said in a statement.
“If this land is not preserved and protected, then you don’t have the ability to ranch and use it, so your livelihoods are deeply dependent on conservation and protecting this land,” he said.Other Utah Republicans also decry natural asset companies and accuse Wall Street of trying to lock up land out west.“Because Utah is a ‘public land state’ the continued success of economic and recreational activities such as grazing, logging, and OHV use are critical to the State’s success,”.