Today at the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation legislative hearing, Republican Members stressed the need for the U.S. Forest Service to resume active forest management and discussed several proposals to improve forest health. A lack of forest management has deprived rural counties of revenue needed to fund schools, emergency services and infrastructure projects;… Read more »

Today, the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation held a legislative hearing on several pieces of legislation to restore active and healthy management of our national forests in order to provide a stable revenue stream for rural schools and counties and prevent devastating wildfires. The Subcommittee heard testimony on the “Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy… Read more »

Last year, wildfires burned 9.3 million acres, while the U.S. Forest Service only harvested approximately 200,000 acres.  This means that 44 times as many acres burned as were responsibility harvested.  The burned areas were not allowed to be salvaged. Read more »

Tomorrow, the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation will hold a legislative hearing on the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act. This bill would renew the federal government’s commitment to manage forest resources for the benefit of rural schools and counties by requiring active forest management. This proposal follows an oversight hearing the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today unveiled a draft proposal to address the expiration of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program. The draft proposal, Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act, renews the federal government’s commitment to manage forest resources for the benefit of rural schools and counties by allowing active forest… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) and a bipartisan group of 30 Members of Congress sent a letter today to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients questioning why the Obama Administration is retroactively subjecting Secure Rural School (SRS) payments, which were made to counties in… Read more »

Dear Secretary Vilsack and Director Zients, We have been informed that the Forest Service has recently proclaimed that funds already distributed under the most recent extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS) or payments based on revenue generated in fiscal year 2012 are subject to the fiscal year 2013 sequester, and the agency will be requesting… Read more »

Representing California's 1st District, located in the Northeast corner of the state, Congressman LaMalfa discusses his background in Agriculture and the variety of natural resources in his district. This year, in fact, Rep. LaMalfa's family celebrates 82 years in the rice farming business. See what Rep. LaMalfa has to say about forest management, hydropower and how Northern California's… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the U.S. Forest Service announced that Secure Rural School (SRS) payments, which went out to counties in January, will be subjected to sequestration cuts: “Several months before President Obama’s sequester was scheduled to go into effect, Congress approved - and President Obama signed… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today introduced H.R. 1159, The Cabin Fee Act of 2013. The bill, which was passed by the House last year, would establish a fair, predictable fee-setting system for families who own cabins in our National Forests. Cabin owners have recently been faced with arbitrary, skyrocketing fees as a result of a faulty appraisal system… Read more »