House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following remarks on the House Floor in support of H. Res. 72, a resolution directing certain committees, including the Natural Resources Committee, to review existing, pending and proposed federal regulations and their effect on jobs and economic growth. “Gasoline prices are rising and we have near… Read more »

GOP lawmakers demand repeal of wilderness policy January 31, 2011 E&E News Phil Taylor Nearly 60 Republican lawmakers, mostly from the West, on Friday asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to rescind a new policy that directs field managers to inventory and protect wilderness-quality lands, arguing that it would significantly affect rural economies. In a letter from the Western… Read more »

Dear Chairwoman Sutley, We write to express our concerns and request your immediate attention regarding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) flawed consultation process resulting in biological opinions (bi-ops) and regulations that will significantly restrict the use of critical crop… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today announced the subcommittee assignments for the Republican Members of the Natural Resources Committee for the 112th Congress. “The Natural Resources Committee has broad jurisdiction that allows our Members to use their individual talents and expertise to work on policies and issues that will help create jobs, grow the… Read more »

Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for your December 1, 2010, letter regarding my recent forum on hydraulic fracturing on public lands. We brought together this group to discuss a way forward to allow the United States to continue to realize the benefits of oil and gas development in a safe and effective manner. Read the entire letter HERE. Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman-elect Doc Hastings (WA-04) today named subcommittee chairmen for the 112th Congress. He also announced the establishment a new Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs. Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution delegates to Congress the power to regulate trade with Indian tribes, and in the House of Representatives the Natural… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman-elect Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s Secretarial Order to allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to designate areas as “Wild Lands” – essentially giving the Administration the ability establish de facto Wilderness areas without Congressional approval: “The Administration… Read more »

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Barbara Boxer are moving forward with their plan to pass a massive land, wildlife and water omnibus package in the final days of the lame-duck Congress. This colossal bill will cost billions of dollars and include over a hundred measures that will create new spending programs, cost jobs, harm our economy, expand the power of the EPA,… Read more »

Natural Resources Committee Chairman-elect Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced intentions to pass a public lands and waterways omnibus bill crafted by himself and Senator Barbara Boxer during the final days of the lame-duck Democrat Congress: Read more »

Committee on public lands is created, Dec. 17, 1805 December 17, 2010 Politico Andrew Glass On this day in 1805, the House created a Committee on Public Lands to help manage the vast, newly acquired territory of the Louisiana Purchase. The acquisition in 1803 from Napoleonic France covered all or part of 14 current U.S. states and two Canadian provinces — nearly 830,000 square… Read more »