On September 27, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) submitted a proposal to the SEC to create a new type of company called a Natural Asset Company (NAC), which would exist to purchase the rights to control public and private land and permanently lock it away from human impact. After an unusually short 21-day public comment period, the SEC is expected to make a decision on January 2. If implemented, the proposal would have a catastrophic effect on rural economies by removing land from productive use. The goal of a NAC is not to make a profit, but rather to maximize the value of the land’s “ecological services.” Energy extraction, modern agriculture, and other economically critical activities would disappear on NAC-protected land.