Today, the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs held an oversight hearing on, “Fish and Wildlife Service’s Proposed Comprehensive Conservation Plan and its Potential Devastating Impact on the Economy of the Town of Chincoteague, Virginia.”
The Town of Chincoteague attracts approximately 1.4 million people annually because of the Island’s beautiful beaches,… Read more »
President Obama’s FY2013 budget proposal released Monday includes $450 million to buy more federal land through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Despite the Federal government’s ballooning $15 trillion debt, the President is proposing a $160 million spending increase (58 percent) for government land acquisition compared to funding levels when he first took office.
The Federal… Read more »
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings released the following statement regarding the Department of the Interior’s list of proposed Conservation Lands and Wilderness designations:
“To date, Congress has designated over one hundred million acres of our public lands as Wilderness – an area larger than the state of California – and last month the Natural Resources Committee… Read more »
Lawmakers say environmental laws should be waived for Border Patrol operations
October 27, 2011
Associated Press
Kevin Freking
Federal agents trying to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border say they’re hampered by laws that keep them from driving vehicles on huge swaths of land because it falls under U.S. environmental protection, leaving it to wildlife — and illegal immigrants and smugglers… Read more »
Today, the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held a legislative hearing on eight bills related to Wilderness and public lands. The bills included measures to modify the boundaries of current federal land holdings, establish new Wilderness areas, and allow for the disposal of surplus federal lands.
“Monuments, Wilderness and other land-use designations have… Read more »
Dear Co-Chairs Hensarling and Murray:
The Natural Resources Committee is committed to addressing our Nation's record debt and deficit levels and doing its part to contribute to the Joint Select Committee's efforts to cut at least $1.5 trillion in federal govemment spending from Fiscal Year 2012 to Fiscal Year 2021. Our growing debt stands in the way of long-term job creation and our… Read more »
Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed H.R. 1505, the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, by a vote of 26 to 17. The bill prohibits the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) from using environmental regulations to hinder U.S. Border Patrol from securing our border on federal lands.
“H.R. 1505 is a common… Read more »
On Sunday, September 18th, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings will host Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in a visit to Central Washington’s Fourth Congressional District for a discussion on Yakima River Basin water and a tour of Hanford’s historic B Reactor.
“Secretary Salazar and I discussed his visiting Central Washington in one of our first… Read more »
Dear Senators Boxer, Bingaman, Inhofe, and Murkowski:
As you consider President Obama's nomination of Ms. Rebecca Wodder as Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks at the Department of the Interior, we respectfully write to let you know of our serious concerns with her record as the head of American Rivers, a single purpose interest group focused on litigating against the… Read more »
Dear Colleague,
The Lummis Amendment to the 2012 Homeland Security Appropriations bill is focused on the serious problem of our Nation’s border security taking a back seat to environmental laws and the regulatory whims of Department of the Interior land managers. An October 2010 GAO report revealed that critical access by the Border Patrol to federal land is routinely blocked and… Read more »
