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Federal Lands

Panel Reviews Bipartisan Bill to Create Federal Land Inventory

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a legislative hearing on H.R. 2199 (Rep Cramer, R-ND), the “Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform Act of 2017” or the “FLAIR Act.” The federal government owns an estimated 640 million acres of land, although, amazingly, the actual acreage number is not definitively known. The bipartisan FLAIR Act requires the Secretary of the Interior to…

Panel Urges Passage of Locally Supported Land Bills to Promote Economic Development and Conservation

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a legislative hearing on two bills to promote economic development, improve conservation and address targeted federal land management challenges. H.R. 2423, the “Washington County, Utah, Public Lands Management Implementation Act,” (Rep. Chris Stewart, R-UT) fulfills a promise made to Washington County, after years of negotiations and…

Panel Calls for Active Management to Improve the Health of National Forests

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held an oversight hearing on “Seeking Better Management of America’s Overgrown, Fire-Prone National Forests.” Members and witnesses called for a paradigm shift in the way we manage the nation’s increasingly overgrown, disease infested and fire-prone federal forests and grasslands. “Our forests are dying […]Nationwide, the Forest Service reports it…

Panel Reviews Slate of Locally Supported Land Transfers to Facilitate Critical Infrastructure Development

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a legislative hearing on a slate of bills that would approve targeted land transfers to facilitate critical infrastructure development and job creation. “Sadly, these bills are necessary because the federal government has not recently been that good neighbor, and ideological zealots in our land management agencies have been obstructing vital…

Statement on President Trump Signing Repeal of BLM Planning 2.0 Rule

| Posted in Press Release

Today, President Trump signed H.J. Res 44 (Rep. Liz Cheney, R-WY), a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Planning 2.0 Rule.   “This rule would have given even more power to the bureaucracy in Washington when what we need is the exact opposite. Reversing this rule is just one of many actions we will take to…

Senate Passes CRA to Restore Wildlife Management Authority to State of Alaska

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Senate passed H.J. Res. 69 sponsored by Rep. Don Young (R-AK). The joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act will overturn the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule on “Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.” “This CRA ensures that the role of states will not be…

Panel: Ballooning Federal Estate a Primary Barrier to Modernizing Infrastructure on Federal Lands

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held an oversight hearing on ways to improve infrastructure and management at the National Park Service (NPS) and the Forest Service (USFS). “A reasonable person might conclude that federal agencies with deferred maintenance backlogs of $6 billion [USFS] and $12 billion [NPS] should first take care of the land it currently administers before…

Washington Times: Obama’s Energy Legacy: Oil, Natural Gas Production on Federal Lands Tanked

| Posted in In Case You Missed It

By: Valerie Richardson Another piece of President Obama’s energy legacy: Oil and natural gas production on federal lands tanked under his tenure even as private activity increased. From 2008 to 2016, major indicators of federal onshore and natural gas operations declined, including the number of leases, acres leased, permits approved and wells drills, according to the Western Energy…

Bishop Statement on Senate Passage of the CRA to Overturn BLM’s Planning 2.0 Rule

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Senate passed H.J. Res. 44 (Rep. Liz Cheney, WY-at large), a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Planning 2.0 rule. “This rule emboldened federal bureaucrats and placed special interests ahead of local communities and states in resource management decisions. I am pleased the Senate followed the House…

Bishop Statement on Secretarial Order to Lift the Lead Ammunition Ban

| Posted in Press Release

Today, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued a Secretarial Order 3346 to lift the ban on traditional lead based ammunition and tackle on federal lands. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement:   “Americans have seen their access to federal lands and Second Amendment rights deliberately eroded for decades by liberals and special interest groups in Washington. Issued…