During the height of this year’s record-breaking fire season, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held a legislative hearing on bills to address forest health and reduce the risk of catastrophic forest fire. Following a Forest Service report on the need for restoration on 65-82 million acres of National Forest land, the Forest Service testified that it had… Read more »
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today unveiled a discussion draft of the Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act, a bill to prevent an impending helium shortage and protect thousands of Americans jobs by implementing a common sense plan to sell helium from the Federal Helium Reserve in a responsible manner.
By law, the Reserve is slated to… Read more »
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Chairman of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), sent a letter to the Obama administration today requesting the withdrawal of a rule proposed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that would regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal and… Read more »
The Committee on Natural Resources can trace its history back more than 200 years ago.
On this day in 1805, the House of Representatives created the Committee on Public Lands, to help Congress manage the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase Territory. Stretching northwest from the port of New Orleans to present-day Montana, the territory covered more than 828,000 square miles.
Backed by… Read more »
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today announced the 26 Republicans expected to serve on the Committee in the 113th Congress. The list has been recommended by the Republican Steering Committee and is expected to be officially adopted in January by the Republican Conference and the House. One Member will be rejoining the Committee and five newly-elected… Read more »
Federal helium program: Reforms need to address shortages, inject free-market principles
By: Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings
December 10, 2012
For most Americans, the word helium may conjure up images of party balloons and cartoon characters floating in the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but few recognize the essential role it plays in our economy. From high-tech… Read more »
Last night, in perfect 66 degree weather, Speaker of the House John Boehner joined Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers and other dignitaries to light the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. This year's tree — a 65-foot Engelmann spruce — hails from Committee Member Scott Tipton's Colorado district, in the Blanco Ranger District of the White River National Forest. The "People's Tree" will be… Read more »
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s proposal to list the Lesser Prairie Chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act:
“The Obama Administration’s proposed listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken as a threatened species could have potentially devastating job and economic… Read more »
