Dear Secretary Vilsack: More than a month has passed since the Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") sent a letter on February 14 requesting that the Department of Agriculture ("USDA") abandon any plans to withhold a portion of the FY 2013 Secure Rural Schools ("SRS") payments as a way to recover the FY 2012 SRS money that the USDA ordered States to return last year. The letter… Read more »

Examiner Editorial: Fighting waste and fraud requires junkyard dogs, not pawns Washington Examiner March 13, 2014 When Congress and President Carter approved creation of the present inspector general program in 1978, the new officials were intended to be the front line of attack against waste and fraud in the federal government. Federal… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent a letter to Department of the Interior’s Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall once again requesting an unredacted copy of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) report on the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement’s (OSM) efforts to rewrite the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule. The House Committee on… Read more »

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… Read more »

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… Read more »

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,… Read more »

March 11, 2014 TO:              Members, Committee on Natural Resources FROM:          Doc Hastings, Chairman RE:               Subpoena issued I hereby give notice that I have issued a subpoena… Read more »

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”… Read more »

Dear Secretary Vilsack: On January 14, 2013, the Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") held an oversight hearing on the Obama Administration's decision to retroactively apply the FY 2013 sequester to FY 2012 payments made to states under the Secure Rural Schools ("SRS") program and the subsequent decision to demand repayment of a portion of those funds. At that hearing, the… Read more »

The House Natural Resources Committee today voted 26-14 to approve a motion to authorize the Chairman to issue subpoenas for the production of documents and to compel individuals to appear before the Committee on four specific matters within the Committee’s jurisdiction. They include: 1.Implementation of the Secure Rural Schools program as authorized by the Secure Rural Schools and… Read more »