House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today released the following statement after receiving a partial response from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe to his February 7th request for an extended public comment period for Lesser Prairie Chicken designation under the Endangered Species Act and to approve state and local plans to protect the Lesser… Read more »

Today the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation held a hearing examining, “State Forest Management: A Model for Promoting Healthy Forests, Rural Schools and Jobs.” The hearing was an opportunity to hear from state leaders, local land managers and timber experts on the inadequacies and burdens of current federal forest management practices that have contributed to… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to follow up on a more than two and a half year investigation into the Obama Administration’s decision to throw out the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone coal regulation, and write a new regulation that could destroy up to 7,000 coal mining jobs and cause economic… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today received the “Water Warrior” award from the Family Farm Alliance at their annual conference. The Family Farm Alliance is an advocate for family farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts, and allied industries in seventeen Western states. The award is given to individuals who have provided long-term support for western… Read more »

Dear Secretary Salazar: Two years ago you received the first in a series of letters asking for information and documents that would explain the deeply concerning decisions made by the Department and the Office of Surface Mining ("OSM") over the last few years related to the decision to discard nearly 5 years of rulemaking and begin a rewrite of Stream Buffer Zone Rule. The Committee has… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today wrote to President Obama requesting that he nominate a permanent Inspector General for the Department of the Interior. Since the Department’s previous Inspector General Earl Devaney was appointed to a new position nearly four years ago, the Department’s Office of Inspector General (IG) has been run by Deputy Inspector… Read more »

The House Natural Resources Committee today held a Full Committee hearing entitled, The Past, Present and Future of the Federal Helium Program, which focused on H.R. 527, the “Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act,” bipartisan legislation that applies free-market principals to prevent a global helium shortage and provide American taxpayers with a fair return for the… Read more »

Manufacturers of computer chips, fiber-optic cables, semi-conductors, life-saving medical imaging devices, and other advanced technologies are already calling for passage of H.R. 527, The Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act. This bipartisan legislation, introduced this week by Chairman Doc Hastings, would prevent the closure of the Federal Helium Reserve, which by law is… Read more »

February 7, 2013 Reminder: Earmark Moratorium Applies to Bills Referred to Natural Resources Committee Dear Colleague: It is important for all Members to recognize that the moratorium on earmarks applies to matters and bills referred to the Natural Resources Committee. If you are preparing or writing a bill that falls within the jurisdiction of the Natural Resources… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA), along with Ranking Member Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), today introduced H.R. 527, The Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act. This bipartisan legislation would prevent the closure of the Federal Helium Reserve, which by law is scheduled to close later this year resulting… Read more »