Today, the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands held an oversight hearing on the “Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization and Forest Management Options for a Viable County Payments Program.” The hearing focused on solutions to ensure forest counties and schools receive sufficient funds while increasing timber harvests and forest management on federal land to create… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Committee approved H.R. 2150, the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Access Act, by a bipartisan vote of 28 to 14. The bill will unlock the full potential of energy resources in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) by eliminating bureaucratic hurdles that prevent the construction of critical roads, bridges and pipelines needed to transport energy… Read more »

As part of House Republicans’ American Energy Initiative, the House Natural Resources Committee passed with bipartisan support four bills, H.R. 2170, H.R. 2171, H.R. 2172 and H.R. 2173, to create jobs and increase renewable energy production on federal lands and water. The bills streamline burdensome regulations and cumbersome government permitting processes that have greatly slowed… Read more »

On Sunday, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands held a field hearing in Hill City, South Dakota on the “Impact of the Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic in the Black Hills.” Subcommittee Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01) and Representative Kristi Noem (SD-At Large) attended the hearing and heard from government officials, local industry and private land owners who testified… Read more »

Today the House National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 1505, the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, legislation introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01) to enhance border security on federal lands. H.R. 1505 would ensure the Border Patrol, not federal land managers, have operational control of our borders and are not… Read more »

The Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and the Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy and Forestry today held a joint oversight hearing on “Challenges facing Domestic Oil and Gas Development: Review of Bureau of Land Management/U.S. Forest Service Ban on Horizontal Drilling on Federal Lands.” The panel heard from a number of experts regarding the U.S.… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding the latest unemployment numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor. “As yet another disappointing jobs report showed unemployment rising to 9.2%, the American people are growing increasingly frustrated with the Obama Administration’s dismal effort to spur job creation. House… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee passed the FY 2012 spending bill: "This spending bill accomplishes the difficult goal of ending runaway government spending while still providing funding to both protect and harness our nation’s natural resources. By setting… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement praising Alaska Governor Sean Parnell and Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan’s plan to offer additional state lands and offshore waters for oil and natural gas exploration: “I applaud Governor Parnell for his active leadership in increasing oil and natural production and setting… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the Interior Department released the final recovery plan for the Northern Spotted Owl: “This plan will cost jobs and deliver another blow to the economies of rural communities throughout the Pacific Northwest, while doing little to actually help increase Northern Spotted Owl… Read more »