House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) and 74 Members of Congress sent a letter today to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe in support of the June 2013 proposed rule to nationally delist the Gray Wolf as “endangered” or “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, and in opposition to a proposal to list the Mexican wolf as a separate, endangered… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent letters to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell regarding subpoenas issued in September for documents relating to the Obama Administration’s decision to retroactively subject 2012 Secure Rural School (SRS) payments to the fiscal year 2013… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power held an oversight hearing on “A Roadmap for Increasing our Water and Hydropower Supplies: The Need for New or Expanded Multi-Purpose Surface Storage Facilities.” This hearing examined the growing need for and the multiple-use benefits of increased water storage and ways to expedite the construction of such… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation held an oversight hearing entitled “Threats, Intimidation and Bullying by Federal Land Managing Agencies.” The hearing examined the ongoing and abusive conduct by federal land management agencies taken against private property rights. “Pioneers viewed the West as the land of opportunity. They saw… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent letters to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz regarding unfulfilled oversight requests from the House Natural Resources Committee on the National Blueways program and former Secretary Chu’s Memorandum to the Power Market Administrations. In addition to reiterating requests… Read more »

Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding the memorandum issued today by the Department of Energy on the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA): “The Bonneville Power Administration provides millions of American families and small businesses in the Pacific Northwest with clean, affordable energy. As such, it is important that… Read more »

Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement today in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) endorsement of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan. “It’s encouraging that after a year of review the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is finally endorsing a… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today applauded the passage of H. J. Res 80 to fund the Bureau of Indian Affairs by a bipartisan vote of 233-160. “While House Republicans continue to offer solutions to end this government shut down, we will also continue to take steps to provide funding for important areas of the government. This measure fulfills the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent letters to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe and U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell regarding the Obama Administration’s actions to unnecessarily and arbitrarily restrict public access to wildlife refuges and Forest Service lands during the government shutdown. Last week, Chairman Hastings… Read more »

Today, the Obama Administration announced they are reversing their stance and will consider allowing states to fund the opening of National Parks. Up until now, the Obama Administration has actively denied this request from states. For example, last week the State of Arizona wrote a letter to the Obama Administration asking to use state money to keep the Grand Canyon open. This request… Read more »