On Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at 4:00PM EST, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT), Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), and Representative Bruce Westerman (R-AR) will hold a press call to discuss catastrophic wildfire legislation and the Obama Administration’s recent request to Congress for wildfire suppression funding. Details are as follows:
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The severe fire season in western U.S. forests has intensified calls for funding changes so that the U.S. Forest Service does not have to borrow money from other accounts to finish out a fiscal year of wildfire suppression.
The situation has revived the question of whether a solution can be accomplished through fiscal changes alone or whether a stepped-up level of active forest… Read more »
House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) today issued the following statement in response to the Obama Administration’s request for Congress to change the way the nation pays for wildfire suppression.
“Changing the way we pay for wildfire suppression is only one small part of a much more serious land management crisis that we must address – now. Our national… Read more »
Top administration officials wrote Congress on Tuesday to urge it–once again–to change the way it budgets for firefighting in light of the disastrous wildfire season in the western U.S.
The Agriculture Department just informed lawmakers this week that it will have to transfer $250 million to fighting the forest fires now raging, which brings this fiscal year’s emergency spending total to… Read more »
Today, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) responded to the loss of the three firefighters who lost their lives fighting the Twisp River fire in Washington State this week: Tom Zbyszewski, 20, Andrew Zajac, 26, and Richard Wheeler, 31. This follows the deaths of David Ruhl, 38, and Michael Hallenback, 21, who died fighting two different California wildfires earlier this summer.
“I am… Read more »
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposal for limiting methane from the oil and natural gas industry. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement in response:
“The EPA’s plan to limit emissions flies in the face of technological reality. The truth is that while the oil and natural gas industry has greatly increased production on state and… Read more »
Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) today requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a review of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s (“OSM”) compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in the development and drafting of the Obama Administration’s Stream Buffer Zone Rule (SBZR). The Department of the… Read more »
Today, the President announced plans to unilaterally designate more than one million acres in Basin and Range in Nevada, Waco Mammoth in Texas, and Berryessa Snow Mountain in California as monuments – totaling already six this year, and 19 since he’s been in office. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) released the following statement:
“President Obama has shown complete disdain for… Read more »
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2647, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015 with bipartisan support by a vote of 262-167. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), the chief sponsor of the legislation, supported by 175 forestry, labor, wildlife and water groups, issued the following statements upon final passage.
“The verdict… Read more »
Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement on the agreement reached for consideration of the bipartisan Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015 (H.R. 2647), introduced by Rep. Westerman (R-AR), by the full House of Representatives the week of July 5, 2015. H.R. 2647 will be considered as part of a legislative package that includes amendments to the Stafford Act,… Read more »
