Dear Secretary Vilsack:

The Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") is conducting oversight of the Obama Administration's development and implementation of its National Ocean Policy, which includes activities to develop ocean and coastal zoning plans, to regulate commercial and agricultural activities even in areas far removed from the coast, and to exclude local stakeholders from management decisions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture ("USDA") is one of more than 20 Federal agencies and departments that make up the National Ocean Council, which is responsible for implementing the National Ocean Policy. The National Ocean Council's final implementation plan, released on April 16, 2013, directs agencies to take more than 200 actions between 2013 and 2017 to implement the National Ocean Policy. The cost of implementing the policy to tax payers and impacts on recreational and commercial users of the oceans and coastal areas, as well as on-land activities, is unknown.

Read the entire letter HERE.