Skip to Content

News List

Chairman Hastings Follow-up Letter to Department of the Interior's Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall Requesting Unredacted Copies of Documents the Efforts to Rewrite the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule

| Posted in Letters

Dear Ms. Kendall: On December 23, 2013 the Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") sent a letter to the Office of Inspector General ("OIG") for the Department of the Interior ("Department") requesting a complete and unredacted copy and underlying attachments for an OIG report of investigation into the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement's ("OSM") efforts to…

Chairman Hastings and Rep. Lummis' Joint Op-Ed in The Daily Caller: Improving the Endangered Species Act for the 21st Century

| Posted in Op-Eds and Speeches

Improving the Endangered Species Act for the 21st Century By ESA Working Group Co-Chairs Doc Hastings and Cynthia Lummis The Daily Caller 3/11/2014 Over forty years ago, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) with the noblest of intentions – conserve and recover wildlife facing preventable extinction. This is a moral obligation on which we can all agree. But with a species…

Committee to Examine Obama Administration’s Approach for Enforcing Wildlife Laws and Impacts on U.S. Energy

| Posted in Committee Action

The House Committee on Natural Resources will hold a Full Committee oversight hearing on Wednesday, March 26th entitled, “Collision Course: Oversight of the Obama Administration’s Enforcement Approach for America’s Wildlife Laws and Its Impact on Domestic Energy.” The hearing will examine the Obama Administration’s approach for enforcing wildlife laws, including the Migratory Bird Treaty…

Chairman Hastings: California Coastal National Monument Expansion Is Unnecessary Use of Presidential Powers

| Posted in Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement on President Obama’s designation of the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands as a part of the Coastal California National Monument: “Instead of using imperial powers, the President should pick up the phone and call upon Senate Democrats to take action. The House has already passed legislation,…

Chairman Hastings Seeks Documents and Answers on White Bluffs Bladderpod Listing

| Posted in Press Release

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent a letter to Ken Berg, Manager at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Washington state Fish and Wildlife Office, seeking answers to specific questions about whether or not the Service’s recent decision to list the White Bluffs bladderpod as threatened and to designate more than 2,000 acres as “critical habitat”…

Committee to Hold Field Hearing on Immediate and Long-Term Relief for Drought-Impacted San Joaquin Valley

| Posted in Committee Action

The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a field hearing in Fresno, California on Wednesday, March 19th entitled “California Water Crisis and Its Impacts: The Need for Immediate and Long-Term Solutions.” The San Joaquin Valley is once again suffering from drought conditions exacerbated by unworkable federal regulations that put the needs of a 3-inch fish over people. The House of…

Chairman Hastings Letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Manager Ken Berg Seeking Documents and Answers on White Bluffs Bladderpod Listing

| Posted in Letters

Dear Mr. Berg: On December 20, 2013, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ("FWS") published a revision to the final rule that listed the White Bluffs bladderpod, Physaria Douglasii subspecies Tuplashensis, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act ("ESA") and designated over 2,000 acres as critical habitat. The White Bluffs bladderpod was one of the many species included…

Witnesses Agree on the Importance of a Robust National Fish Hatchery System

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs held an oversight hearing entitled "National Fish Hatchery System: Strategic Hatchery and Workforce Planning Report." This hearing examined the importance of the National Fish Hatchery System and the negative effects that the recommendations, in the Strategic Hatchery and Workforce Planning…