Today, the Committee on Natural Resources released the Federal Footprint Map, which details the immense scale of federal land ownership and regulation in the United States.  This interactive tool gathers data from federal agencies and will be used as an educational resource for Members of Congress and their staff, reporters, and the public.  Chairman Bishop (R-UT)… Read more »

Today, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) released a discussion draft of legislation titled the “Protecting America’s Recreation and Conservation (PARC) Act,” which includes several substantive reforms to update the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), enacted in 1965. “The LWCF’s current lopsided funding ratio makes limited funds available to establish recreation projects and facilities that… Read more »

The Obama Administration has spent years invading broad parts of the economy from finance to health care, but less noticed is the takeover of, well, actual land. Witness the standoff over a 50-year-old public land program that has devolved into a watering hole for seizing private property. The Land and Water Conservation Fund, whose Congressional authorization expired on Sept.… Read more »

Today, House Committee on Natural Resource Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement in response to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal: “One of the harshest things that a government can do is to take away a citizen’s land and home.  The fact that for 50 years the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been misused to jeopardize private property rights, a… Read more »

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Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting information about federal agencies recent land acquisitions and stewardship of existing federal lands. The request for information was made as the Committee finalizes… Read more »

House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) today issued the following statement on efforts to modernize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Act of 1965. “Both Republicans and Democrats support the original intent of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, but the program has drifted far from the original intent.  Under my chairmanship, the status quo will… Read more »

On Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at 4:00PM EST, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT), Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), and Representative Bruce Westerman (R-AR) will hold a press call to discuss catastrophic wildfire legislation and the Obama Administration’s recent request to Congress for wildfire suppression funding. Details are as follows:   … Read more »

The severe fire season in western U.S. forests has intensified calls for funding changes so that the U.S. Forest Service does not have to borrow money from other accounts to finish out a fiscal year of wildfire suppression. The situation has revived the question of whether a solution can be accomplished through fiscal changes alone or whether a stepped-up level of active forest… Read more »

House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) today issued the following statement in response to the Obama Administration’s request for Congress to change the way the nation pays for wildfire suppression. “Changing the way we pay for wildfire suppression is only one small part of a much more serious land management crisis that we must address – now.  Our national… Read more »