House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today received the “Water Warrior” award from the Family Farm Alliance at their annual conference. The Family Farm Alliance is an advocate for family farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts, and allied industries in seventeen Western states. The award is given to individuals who have provided long-term support for western… Read more »

Thank you for that warm welcome and introduction, Mike (LaPlant). For those of you who don’t know, Mike is the President of the Washington State Farm Bureau and a Director of the Quincy-Columbia Basin Irrigation District.  Mike is not only a constituent from Ephrata, Washington, but a friend. And I want to thank you at the Family Farm Alliance for inviting me here today. We… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04), joined House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (OK-03), Rep. Randy Neubebauer (TX-19), and six other members of Congress in sending a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) Director Dan Ashe calling on him to promptly approve state and local plans to protect the Lesser Prairie Chicken and requesting… Read more »

We are writing to request at least a 60-day extension of the comment period and at least a 90-day extension of the final listing deadline for the proposed rule to list the Lesser Prairie-Chicken (LPC) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. We also request that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in coordination with the Western Association of Fish and… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today issued the following statement regarding U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s proposal to list the wolverine as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The wolverine was one of hundreds of species included in a 2011 settlement agreement between the Department of the Interior and litigious environmental… Read more »

As many media outlets have pointed out, the one issue most notably absent from President Obama’s inaugural address this week was jobs. With unemployment at 7.8 percent and the economy and jobs still topping the list of Americans’ greatest concerns, it’s baffling why the President chose not to mention this in his first speech of his second term.   Even more baffling, is why the Obama… 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 »

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) granted a request by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) to extend the comment period of the FWS and NOAA Fisheries Proposed Revisions to Critical Habitat Economic Impact Analyses for an additional 90 days. Chairman Hastings initially requested the 90… Read more »

Dear Director Ashe and Administrator Lubchenco: I write regarding your agencies’ recent proposed rule that would make sweeping changes to regulations for analyzing the economic impacts of critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). I understand that the comment period for this proposed rule is scheduled to expire on October 23, 2012. Considering the sweeping… Read more »

“We're disappointed that they filed another large, multi-species petition. Fifty-three species is a large number, and the species are spread across the country.” – Gary Frazer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Assistant Director for Endangered Species The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) recently petitioned the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) under the guise of protecting 53… Read more »