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 »

Today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power held a legislative hearing on H.R. 3189, the Water Rights Protection Act, sponsored by Congressman Scott Tipton (CO-03), which protects privately held water rights, prohibits federal water grabs and upholds state water laws. This bipartisan legislation will end further attempts by the Obama Administration to take privately… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing entitled “EPA vs. American Mining Jobs: The Obama Administration’s Regulatory Assault on the Economy.” This hearing examined the onerous federal regulations and abusive actions by the Obama Administration, particularly by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that have cost… Read more »

This week the Obama Administration began erecting metal barricades to keep families, veterans, school groups and visitors out of popular open-air monuments in Washington D.C. such as the Lincoln Memorial, which did not happen during the last government shutdown, and the World War II Memorial. The U.S. Park Service has also closed small businesses and non-profit operations that happen to… Read more »

This week the Obama Administration began erecting steel barricades to keep veterans, families and visitors out of popular open-air monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial and World War II Memorial. Despite the fact that these are open-air sites that are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and are only staffed by Park Rangers during certain hours of the day, the Obama… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) and Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01) today sent a letter to National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis regarding the Obama Administration’s actions to restrict public access to the World War II Memorial and other open-air monuments, memorials and parks in Washington,… Read more »