GOP lawmakers urge Interior to continue streamlining permitting
November 6, 2009
E&E Daily
Noelle Straub
A group of House Republicans is urging the Interior Department not to back off its use of a provision to streamline oil and gas drilling applications on public lands, despite lawsuits from environmental groups.
Section 390 of the 2005 Energy Policy Act allows the Bureau of… Read more »
Interior, Congress wage turf battle over timber contracts
November 6, 2009
E&E Daily
Patrick Reis
Three Western congressmen are pushing legislation that would extend federal contracts for timber companies trying to ride out the tough homebuilding market, but administration officials want more say in the process.
H.R. 3759 would require the Interior Department to grant three-year… Read more »
Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) responded to a letter from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack regarding the Forest Service’s use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding. In his response, Hastings requests specific information to his unanswered questions regarding the use of taxpayer dollars, the effectiveness of the ARRA and… Read more »
The Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Act of 2009 (H.R. 2888)
October 28, 2009 Full Committee Markup
Reporting H.R. 2888 out of Committee (View Roll Call Vote)
The Devil's Staircase Wilderness Act of 2009 would designate over 29,000 acres of federal land in Oregon as wilderness. Wilderness is the most restrictive land use designation, eliminating the use of mechanized recreation and… Read more »
Molalla River amendment to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (H.R. 2781)
October 28, 2009 Markup
Reporting H.R. 2781 out of Committee (View Roll Call Vote)
This bill would designate segments of the Mollala River in Oregon as components of the Wild and Scenic River Systems. Democrats refused to allow an amendment by Rep. Rob Bishop that would restore rural community funding by… Read more »
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting article titled, “Aspen Trees Die Across the West” which notes that “perhaps a combination of factors -- is killing hundreds of thousands of acres of the trees from Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona through Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and into Canada, according to the U.S. government and independent scientists.”
One of the factors noted is that… Read more »
