Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) testified before the House Committee on Rules in support of H.R. 615, H.R. 764, H.R. 2925, H.R. 3195, H.R. 3397 and H.R. 6285. Westerman laid out how these bills will work to unleash domestic energy production, support the western way of life and increase access for hunters and anglers. 

Below are Westerman's full remarks, as prepared.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to testify on behalf of six bills: H.R. 615, H.R. 764, H.R. 2925, H.R. 3195, H.R. 3397, and H.R. 6285.

Last year, the Biden administration adopted a death-by-a-thousand-cuts approach to restricting access to hunting and fishing opportunities in our nation’s wildlife refuges by imposing lead bans in eight of the National Wildlife Refuges. H.R. 615, the “Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2023,” sponsored by Congressman Wittman, would reverse these unjustified bans on lead ammunition and tackle on federal lands and waters. These refuge-specific bans are not supported by scientific evidence that the use of lead ammunition and tackle is harmful to wildlife populations. If these lead bans go into effect, the cost of utilizing lead-free alternative products will be so steep that it will dramatically impact sportsmen and women’s participation, turning hunting and fishing on America’s public lands and waters – resources that belong to every American – into pastimes reserved only for the rich.

Rep. Wittman’s H.R. 615 fosters a better approach, ensuring federal land managers cannot issue blanket lead bans and instead requiring any restrictions on lead be substantiated by locally specific scientific data that lead is the primary cause of wildlife population decline.  The bill also requires any lead restrictions be in line with the state hunting and fishing regulations.

H.R. 764, the “Trust the Science Act,” sponsored by Congresswoman Boebert, would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reissue the Trump administration’s final rule that delisted the gray wolf in the lower 48 states. By every measure, the gray wolf is a recovered species and should be celebrated as an ESA success story. Two months ago, the Service reaffirmed this when it announced that gray wolves in the Western United States have a healthy abundance, retained genetic diversity, can respond to high-mortality events, and maintain adaptive capacity.

This legislation represents a rare instance where we agree with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The gray wolf is a recovered species; it should be delisted, and Ms. Boebert’s legislation will do just that.

H.R. 3397, the “Western Economic Security Today or WEST Act,” sponsored by Congressman Curtis, nullifies the fundamentally flawed and legally dubious “Conservation and Landscape Health Rule” finalized by the Bureau of Land Management earlier this month. The rule is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to lock up more lands to advance radical goals like the Biden administration’s 30x30 agenda.

The BLM manages 245 million acres of land across the West. The BLM Rule will cede control of that land to wealthy elites and environmental extremists under the guise of “restoration and mitigation leases” and new Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. 

If responsible use and development of public lands are prohibited, as the BLM Rule proposes, families and small businesses, multi-generation ranches, local communities, and schools will suffer from lack of access to the natural resources in their own backyards, lost opportunity for economic development, and decreased tax revenue.  

H.R. 6285, the “Alaska’s Right to Produce Act of 2023,” sponsored by Congressman Stauber, restores energy authority back to the people of Alaska and prevents the Biden administration from once again kneecapping this critical revenue stream for tribal communities and the state. The Biden administration unilaterally canceled legally mandated leases in the 1002 Section of ANWR, threatening the natural resource development that provides essential funding to support public projects and basic services in Alaska Native communities.

The Biden administration also just promulgated a final rule that would lock up over half of the National Petroleum Reserve -Alaska (NPR-A) and prevent oil and gas exploration and production.

To quote from the Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat President Nagruk Harcharek, “The federal government has again excluded the Indigenous North Slope Iñupiat from policymaking by issuing a final rule for the NPR-A that does not reflect our communities’ wishes…This is a deeply concerning trend by an administration that regularly claims to be the most Indigenous-friendly government on record.” Again, these are not my words but the words of Alaska’s indigenous people.

The Biden administration has issued over 55 executive orders and actions targeting Alaska, locking up their lands and waters and prohibiting the state from accessing their natural resources which they depend on for their survival. Nothing about Alaska is like what we are accustomed to here in the lower 48. If you ever had the opportunity to visit with the former Dean of the House of Representatives, Don Young, congressman for all of Alaska, you would know just that. Alaska must have the ability to access their resources for their livelihoods. Responsibly developing Alaskan resources supports U.S. energy security and national security. We cannot allow the Biden administration to sanction Alaska time and time again, when they should be championing native communities, local voices and our national interests by supporting Alaska.   

H.R. 2925, the “Mining Regulatory Clarity Act,” sponsored by Congressman Amodei, would reverse a harmful decision made by the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed a lower court decision revoking an approved mine plan for the Rosemont Copper Mine Project in Arizona.

This determination upended 40 years of mining regulatory precedent, along with over a century of interpretation of the Mining Law of 1872. If allowed to stand, this decision would impact all hardrock mining projects on federal lands moving forward, making it even more difficult to access the resources essential to our daily lives – resources we can and should be producing right here in America.

H.R. 3195, the “Superior National Forest Restoration Act,” introduced by Congressman Stauber, reverses yet another shortsighted decision from this administration. In January 2022, the Biden administration canceled Twin Metals Minnesota's two decades-old mineral leases in the Superior National Forest and simultaneously began the withdrawal process of over 225,000 acres of mineral-rich land, effectively barring new production of minerals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum, and iron ore.

The Biden administration's actions to stop this promising mining project cut deep into the region. The area has a longstanding history and tradition of mining, and area residents state with pride how they and their forefathers mined the iron that made the steel that won WWII. 

H.R. 3195 would rescind Public Land Order 7917, restore mineral rights to prospective developers in the area, and require the prompt review of any Mine Plans of Operations for potential future development.

With China, Russia, and other foreign adversaries aggressively expanding their malign influence across the globe, it’s time to say “yes in my backyard” to safe, reliable, environmentally-friendly development of America’s abundant natural resources.

While the Biden administration continues to restrict access to our public lands and waters and threaten the western way of life, House Republicans are standing up for local communities across America by advancing policies that conserve our resources, expand multiple uses, and promote good stewardship in this and future generations. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on these important bills today. I urge the Rules Committee to report an appropriate rule so that they can be considered on the House floor. 

I yield back.

Background

H.R. 615, the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2023, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), would bar the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture from prohibiting or regulating the use of lead ammunition or tackle on federal land or water that is under their jurisdiction and made available for hunting or fishing.

H.R. 764, the Trust the Science Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), would remove the recovered gray wolf from the endangered species list. 

H.R. 2925, the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2023, introduced by U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), would codify and clarify longstanding precedent regarding mining permitting on federal lands in response to the Ninth Circuit's decision on the Rosemont Copper Mine that upended 40 years of mining regulatory precedent and impacted mining projects across western states.

H.R. 3195, the Superior National Forest Restoration Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), would reinstate mineral leases and permits in the Superior National Forest and ensure timely review of Mine Plans of Operations.

H.R. 3397, the Western Economic Security Today (WEST) Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), would withdraw a public lands rule relating to land use and landscape health that would have devastating consequences to states across the West and the multiple use of public lands. 

H.R. 6285, the Alaska's Right to Produce Act of 2023, introduced by U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), would reverse two recent actions taken by the Biden administration by reinstating the previously issued Arctic National Wildlife Refuge leases as required by law and canceling the proposed National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska rule.