H. Rept. 113-26 Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA – 04) sent letters today to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Department of the Interior Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall seeking information about the Administration’s decision to not allow the continued operation of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company within the Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern… Read more »

Dear Ms. Kendall: On February 7, 2013, the Office of Inspector General ("IG") issued a final report of its investigation into a scientific integrity complaint associated with the Department of the Interior's (" Department") September 2011 Draft Environmental Impact Statement ("DEIS") for the Drakes Bay Oyster Company Special Use Permit. For several years, serious… Read more »

This letter seeks information about the Department of the Interior's ("Department") November 29,2012, decision not to allow an oyster farm to continue operating within the Point Reyes National Seashore. The National Park Service ("NPS") has for years been dogged by allegations that the science used to estimate harbor seal disturbances and more recently impacts on the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today unveiled a draft proposal to address the expiration of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program. The draft proposal, Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act, renews the federal government’s commitment to manage forest resources for the benefit of rural schools and counties by allowing active forest… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) and a bipartisan group of 30 Members of Congress sent a letter today to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients questioning why the Obama Administration is retroactively subjecting Secure Rural School (SRS) payments, which were made to counties in… Read more »

Dear Secretary Vilsack and Director Zients, We have been informed that the Forest Service has recently proclaimed that funds already distributed under the most recent extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS) or payments based on revenue generated in fiscal year 2012 are subject to the fiscal year 2013 sequester, and the agency will be requesting… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar expressing disappointment at the Department’s lack of transparency and failure to respond to the Committee’s legitimate oversight questions surrounding OSM’s bizarre decision to rewrite a carefully crafted 2008 coal regulation.  The letter reiterates… Read more »

Dear Secretary Salazar: As you know, for more than two years the Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") has been conducting oversight on issues regarding the Department of the Interior's and the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement's ("OSM") handling of the decision to toss aside and ultimately rewrite the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule.… Read more »

H.R. 678, the “Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act,” passed through the House Committee on Natural Resources last week. Sponsored by Rep. Scott Tipton (CO-03), the legislation creates new American jobs and expands production of clean, renewable hydropower by cutting duplicative, bureaucratic red tape. Watch the video below to find out more. Read more »