Today, during delivered testimony before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans, the U.S. Forest Service Deputy Chief Leslie Weldon announced the decision to permanently withdraw the Proposed Directive on Groundwater Management (Groundwater Directive) that was put on the table last year. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement in… Read more »

Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans made the following opening statement at today's oversight hearing entitled "Proposed Federal Water Grabs and Their Potential Impacts on States, Water, and Power Users, and Landowners." Remarks as prepared - Today, the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans meets to review federal proposals that could… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans held an oversight hearing titled, “Proposed Federal Water Grabs and Their Potential Impacts on States, Water and Power Users, and Landowners.”  Witnesses testified on a range of Administration policies and regulatory actions, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) and the… Read more »

Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Louie Gohmert (R-TX) sent a letter to Director of the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement (OSM) Joseph Pizarchik, requesting documents and information regarding the development of the environmental review documents for the new Stream… Read more »

House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01) today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) announcement of its decision to list the northern long-eared bat (NLEB) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The population loss of the bat is primarily caused by a disease called white nose syndrome (WNS)… Read more »

House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01) issued the following statement this evening on the Obama Administration’s release of its first Report on the Implementation of the National Ocean Policy:  “The Administration's ocean policy is similar to its approach to federal lands, particularly in the West, in that it champions new layers of federal bureaucracy… Read more »

Rep. Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources made the following opening statement at today's oversight hearing entitled "Effect of the President’s FY 2016 Budget and Legislative Proposals for the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service’s Energy and Minerals Programs on Private Sector Job Creation, Domestic Energy and Minerals… Read more »

House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular, and Alaska Native Affairs Don Young (R-AK), along with Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), and Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) sent a letter today to Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, requesting that the Department refrain from issuing a final… Read more »

Committee on Natural Resources Vice Chairman Cynthia Lummis (WY-At large) today questioned BLM Director Neil Kornze on how the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between BLM and the states will operate. “Who will approve well bore integrity issues? Will you approve those? Who will do the inspections? Will [states] be brought in? Who is… Read more »

Below is an exchange between exchange between Chairman Bishop and Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. MOUs? Chairman Bishop: “Have the states…screwed up? Are the state [water] engineers incompetent? Is that what the Forest Service is trying to say?” Bishop asked Chief Tidwell:  “No...” Lawsuits? Chief Tidwell: “We can maybe… Read more »