This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed seven House Committee on Natural Resources bills with significant bipartisan support. House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) issued the following statement in response:

"In the first week of President Trump's second term, House Republicans are delivering wins for Americans across the country. From recognizing heroic recipients of the Medal of Honor on the national mall to holding our land management agencies accountable for critical forest management work and expanding access to public lands and waters, we're advancing commonsense policies and working with the new administration for the American people."

Background

H.R. 165, the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), would place approximately 40 acres of fee land located within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation into restricted fee status for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The land to be placed into restricted fee would be held as a sacred site and memorial for the approximately 300 Indian people killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 that occurred on the site.

H.R. 186, the Hershel Woody Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), authorizes the location of the National Medal of Honor Memorial within the National Mall to honor the extraordinary acts of valor, selfless service and sacrifice displayed by Medal of Honor recipients.

H.R. 187, the Modernizing Access to Our Public (MAP) Waters Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), would help enhance access to the nation’s outdoor recreational opportunities by digitizing and standardizing mapping information, such as access points and permissible uses, of federal waters and making that information easily accessible to the public.

H.R. 197, the Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act of 2023, introduced by U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), directs the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to exchange land in the Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota for land owned by Big Winnie Land and Timber, LLC., allowing a local small business to continue using a lakefront marina, a popular outdoor recreation area.

H.R. 204, the Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions Act or the ACRES Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), holds federal land management agencies accountable by providing transparency in the work they are doing to reduce the amount of fuel for wildfires on our public lands and determine the effectiveness of the fuel reduction treatments.

H.R. 207, the Supporting the Health of Aquatic systems through Research Knowledge and Enhanced Dialogue or SHARKED Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), would require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force to address shark depredation, which occurs when a shark eats or damages a hooked fish before an angler can reel in their catch.

H.R. 375, introduced by U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), requires the Secretary of the Interior to partner and collaborate with the Secretary of Agriculture and the State of Hawaii to address rapid ohia death.