Oversight Hearing on:

• “Collision Course: Oversight of the Obama Administration’s Enforcement Approach for America’s Wildlife Laws and Its Impact on Domestic Energy”

Archived Video Webcast:

Member Statements:

The Honorable Doc Hastings
Chairman

Witnesses and Testimony:

PANEL I

The Honorable Daniel M. Ashe
Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Background:

The hearing will examine the Obama Administration’s approach for enforcing wildlife laws, including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act as it relates to U.S. energy producers, and the Administration’s failure to fully respond to repeated requests from the Committee for documents. For nearly ten months, the Committee on Natural Resources has been conducting oversight into the enforcement policies and practices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) concerning these laws. Multiple letters have been sent and the majority of the Committee’s requests remain unanswered and the Committee’s requests for several categories of documents that would explain how policies have been developed or implemented or specific cases investigated and prosecuted have largely gone unfulfilled. 

The goal of the Committee’s oversight efforts is to gain a better understanding of how and why the Administration decides to enforce some violations and not others and what role “cooperation” between the Administration and wind developers plays in making enforcement decisions. Despite claims of transparency, the Obama Administration has made these enforcement decisions behind closed-doors and it is unacceptable that it is withholding information from Congress and the American public.

Related Documents:

• Full Committee Hearing Notice - March 11, 2014
• Full Committee Hearing Witness List - March 25, 2014