TO: The Honorable Suzette Kimball FROM: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Louie Gohmert Dear Director Kimball: In June 2016, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of the Interior (DOI) released a report entitled "Scientific Integrity Incident at USGS Energy Geochemistry Laboratory." Read the entire letter HERE.  Read more »

TO: The Honorable Sally Jewell FROM: Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop  Dear Secretary Jewell:  In April 2016, the National Park Service (NPS) drafted an after action review titled, “Strengthening Cultural Resources Stewardship in the National Park Service.” Read the entire letter HERE.  Read more »

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Gold King Mine blowout near Silverton, Colorado. House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) released the following statement: “A year later, the Obama Administration still won’t tell us the whole truth. Accounts of events from Interior and EPA have been inconsistent and… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on the status of Ivanpah and other federal loan-guaranteed solar energy projects on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. The Obama Administration has subsidized billions of taxpayer dollars in renewable energy projects that have significantly underperformed, killed federally protected birds and destroyed the… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held an oversight hearing to hear from state and local representatives on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) draft Planning 2.0 Rule. This draft rule would dramatically shift resource management planning away from local communities to bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. Kathleen Clarke, Director of the Utah Public Lands Policy… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held an oversight hearing on the lack of enforcement and accountably from the Obama Administration in response to a growing number of reports of unethical and criminal conduct at the Department of the Interior (DOI). Since last month’s subcommittee hearing on the “culture of corruption” at DOI, the Office of Inspector General (OIG)… Read more »

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) sent a letter to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) as part of the Subcommittee’s ongoing oversight of ethical lapses and violations of federal law at DOI, and the pattern of evasion from the Department’s senior leadership and DOI’s OIG.   On May 27, 2016, the… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held an oversight hearing on the “Culture of Corruption” at the Department of the Interior (DOI). During the hearing, Mary Kendall, DOI Deputy Inspector General (IG), acknowledged that Jonathan Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service, purposely lied to the Secretary of the Interior about a book deal he improperly obtained for… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on “Local and State Perspectives on BLM’s Draft Planning 2.0 Rule.”   As proposed, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Planning 2.0 rule would significantly diminish local input and shift most public land use planning decisions to bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. “Instead of keeping most planning activity at the… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on impediments imposed by federal land management regimes in securing the international borders of the United States. Federal land management regulations create obstacles for the United States Border Patrol in effectively securing the border. This leaves borderland communities both environmentally degraded and… Read more »