TO: The Honorable Joseph Pizarchik  FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Pizarchik:  On February 23, 2015, eleven state agencies that had previously entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement ("OSM") concerning the development of an environmental impact statement ("EIS") for the new Stream Protection… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Ashe:  At the joint hearing before the Subcommittees on Water, Power, and Oceans and Federal Lands held on March 19,2015, you confirmed that the Fish and Wildlife Service ("FWS") has not consulted with the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") on whether two major forthcoming EPA Clean Air Act… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Ashe:  On March 4. 2015, I sent you a letter requesting certain information regarding the proposed listing of the Northern Long-Eared Bat ("NLEB"). Specifically, the letter requested that you provide, among other things, "data, population models, or any other analytical tools used which demonstrate (1)… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Jeh Johnson FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Secretary Johnson, The Department of the Interior ("DOI") manages millions of acres on our Southern border under a variety of restrictive law and regulations.  The Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") has continually expressed concerns that the resulting impediments to access available to the Department of… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Sally Jewell FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Secretary Jewell, The Department of the Interior ("DOI") manages millions of acres on our Southern border under a variety of restrictive laws and regulations.  The Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") has continually expressed concerns that the resulting impediments to access available to the Department of… Read more »

Below is an exchange between exchange between Chairman Bishop and Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. MOUs? Chairman Bishop: “Have the states…screwed up? Are the state [water] engineers incompetent? Is that what the Forest Service is trying to say?” Bishop asked Chief Tidwell:  “No...” Lawsuits? Chief Tidwell: “We can maybe… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Ashe, In order to facilitate a more productive discussion at the March 19th joint budget hearing before the Subcommittees on Federal Lands and Water, Power, and Oceans, it is requested that you be prepared to answer the following questions:  Read the Chairman's entire letter HERE. Read more »

TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Ashe: Earlier this month, numerous members of the U,S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to you regarding the upcoming listing determination for the northern long-eared bat (NLEB), the related 4(d) proposal, and broader efforts to address white nose syndrome (WNS). These members asked for your… Read more »

TO: Rob Bishop, Chairman FROM: Dan Ashe, Director Dear Representative Bishop, Thank you for your letter of March 4, 2015, also co-signed by several of your colleagues, regarding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) proposed 4(d) rule, which will accompany our final listing decision if we decide to list the northern long-eared bat as "threatened" under the Endangered Species… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Ashe: We write to express our concerns regarding the potential listing of the northern long-eared bat (NLEB), as well as the proposed 4(d) rule that would accompany such a listing.  We also write to ensure that any efforts to protect the NLEB do not cause undue harm to, or impose unnecessary regulatory burdens on… Read more »