Nebraska Environmental Trust appointee says board has become more transparent amid recent funding cuts

Joshua Anderson, a farmer and four-year member of the Nebraska Environmental Trust board, told the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee on his appointment hearing that the board has worked to make its grant process "more transparent, quicker" even as the Legislature diverted funds from the Trust in the most recent biennial budget.

Anderson, who identified his address as 2080 Road 307 in Edgar and described his family’s multigenerational conservation work in the Rainwater Basin, said he filled a vacated four-year seat on the board and that the board’s legislative committee has asked the executive director to review the budget-language mechanics in recently passed bills.

The nut of Anderson’s testimony was his defense of the Trust’s grant process: he said the board now operates a competitive, ranked grant process established by the Legislature and that lottery proceeds and other revenues can vary year to year. "We try to make the best use for the public of the money that the public has trusted us to allocate to grants," he told the committee.

Committee members pressed Anderson about the effect of budget sweeps that redirected Environmental Trust money into other state accounts. Anderson said board members are focused on operating within the funding they receive and do not make state budget decisions. He said the Trust’s legislative committee directed the executive director to examine the mechanics of relevant bills and advise whether those mechanics would work.

Senators also asked operational questions: whether the Trust must carry over funding year to year (Anderson said he believed there is no statutory carryover requirement and deferred to the executive director for a firm answer), whether the board had received widespread constituent concern about the Trust’s mission (Anderson said he had not heard a "resounding voice" that the Trust had deviated from its mission) and whether the Trust planned to recommend an executive director (Anderson said the board hopes to identify a candidate by August and bring a recommendation to the full board).

The hearing record shows four online proponents and no opponents for Anderson’s appointment. The committee closed the hearing without a recorded committee vote during this session.

Anderson emphasized the board’s conservation mission and his view that "agriculture and conservation are complementary interests," saying his farm and family background informed his interest in the Trust. He also cited volunteer service on local boards and four years on the Environmental Trust as relevant experience.

The committee did not take a formal vote during the hearing; members closed the public testimony and moved on to subsequent nominations.