TO: The Honorable Ryan Zinke FROM: Chairman Rob Bishop and Subcommittee Chairman Raúl Labrador Dear Secretary Zinke, We write to express our concerns regarding the administration of two climate change adaptation programs within the Department of the Interior (Interior). One of the programs, Climate Science Centers (CSCs), is led by the U.S. Geological Survey. The second program,… Read more »

Today, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Raúl Labrador (R-ID) sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke expressing concerns and requesting information on two climate change adaptation programs established within the Department of the Interior during the Obama administration. The Climate Science Centers (CSCs), which are led by the… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held an oversight hearing on delays and uncertainty related to Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations. Subcommittee Chairman Raúl Labrador (R-ID) reacted to testimony from witnesses that recounted personal experiences with extensive delays as a result of ESA consultations that ultimately jeopardized human health and safety,… Read more »

TO: Acting Secretary Haugrud FROM: Chairman Rob Bishop Dear Acting Secretary Haugrud: Over the past several years, many disturbing cases concerning Department of the Interior (Department) employees misconduct have cast doubts on effectiveness of the Department's hiring, retention, and termination policies. The Department employs "about 70,000 people in approximately 2,400 locations."… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held an oversight hearing to examine decades of data manipulation at the United States Geological Survey (USGS), generally recognized as a preeminent scientific organization of the federal government. The Department of the Interior Inspector General and a Scientific Integrity Review Panel both found a chronic pattern of scientific… Read more »

TO: Director Dan Ashe FROM: Chairman Rob Bishop and Chairman Louie Gohmert Dear Director Ashe: The Committee is conducting oversight of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) use of voluntary payments by energy developers to mitigate impacts on migratory birds. In 2001, Executive Order 13186 directed "departments and agencies to take certain actions to further implement the… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Suzette Kimball FROM: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Louie Gohmert Dear Director Kimball: The Committee on Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is conducting oversight of scientific misconduct and data manipulation at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).  Read the entire letter HERE.  Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held an oversight hearing on the status of the federal government’s inconsistent and unsuccessful wolf management efforts in the United States. The panel, which included local and state witnesses, focused on red wolves in the Southeast, gray wolves in the Northwest and Western Great Lakes and Mexican wolves in the Southwest. “For… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop Dear Director Ashe: On August 5, 2015, an Environmental Protection Agency-led crew ("EPA") discharged 3 million gallons of contaminated water from the Gold King Mine, located in San Juan County, Colorado into the Animas and the San Juan River systems.  Read the entire letter HERE.  Read more »

TO: The Honorable Gina A. McCarthy FROM: Chairman Rob Bishop and Chairman Fred Upton Dear Administrator McCarthy: Under  section   I 08(b)  of  the  Comprehensive  Environmental   Response,   Compensation, and  Liability  Act  (CERCLA)  the  Environmental  Protection  Agency   (EPA  or  the… Read more »