Letters
Former Committee Chairman Henry Waxman Warns Against Republican Expansion of Unilateral Subpoena Power
On February 10th, 2015, Ranking Member Raul Grijalva co-signed a letter highlighting an important Washington Post op-ed regarding House Republicans efforts to expand the ability of committee chairman to issue unilateral subpoenas with no debate and no vote.… Continue Reading
01.28.15
Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego Ask President Obama to Protect the Grand Canyon Watershed Region
01.27.15
Jan. 27 Subcommittee Ranking Members: Letter to Pelosi
On January 27th, Ranking Member Raul Grijalva wrote a letter to the Honorable Nancy Pelosi to inform her of the Members whom were elected to serve as the Ranking Members of the five subcommittees of the Natural Resources Committee.… Continue Reading
01.15.15
GAO Co-Requestor Letter
On January 15th, 2015, Ranking Member Raul Grijalva requested The Honorable Gene Dodaro to be a co-requestor of the GAO study on the Interior's collection of oil and gas revenues related to production verfication and royalty data.… Continue Reading
10.22.14
Ranking Member DeFazio Urges BLM to Deny Permit Application for the Idaho Predator Hunt Derby
Neil Kornze Director, U.S. Bureau of Land Management 1849 C Street NW, Rm. 5665 Washington, DC 20240 Dear Director Kornze: Thank you for having your Idaho State Director, Timothy Murphy, respond to my letter of October 10th, and for granting an extension of the public comment period for the Idaho Predator Hunt Derby (Derby) permit application Environmental Assessment (EA). Based on a more thorough review of the EA, I am writing today to ask respectfully that you deny the permit application for… Continue Reading
10.08.14
House Dems Ask BLM to Curb Illegal Drilling Operations on Public Lands
The Honorable Neil Kornze Director Bureau of Land Management Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240 Dear Director Kornze: As stewards of America's public lands, it is our shared responsibility to ensure that the development of oil and gas resources from these lands is done in a safe and environmentally responsible manner that also provides a fair return to the American taxpayer. A recent report from the Department of the Interior's Office of the Inspector General (OI… Continue Reading
09.26.14
Natural Resources Committe Urges Chief Tidwell to Revise Proposed Rule Regarding Filming in Wilderness Areas
The Honorable Chief Tom Tidwell U.S. Forest Service 1400 Independence Ave S.W. Washington, D.C. 20250 Dear Chief Tidwell: We write to express our deep concern about a proposed Forest Service directive relating to commercial filming in wilderness areas. We ask that you revise this directive and specifically rescind a provision that would appear to limit the freedom to film in wilderness areas based on the views or intent of the photographer. Earlier this month, the Forest Service published a … Continue Reading
03.19.14
House Dems Urge FWS to Rescind Proposed Rule to Delist Gray Wolf
Washington, D.C. - Today, Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Peter DeFazio (D-OR) released a bipartisan letter co-signed by 73 House members urging Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell to continue critical protections for endangered gray wolves. The letter comes on the heels of an independent peer review that found the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) failed to use the "best available science" when it drafted a proposed rule that would remove Endangered Species Ac… Continue Reading
03.12.14
DeFazio, Dingell, and McCollum Letter Seeking Extention of Public Comment Period for BLM's Greater Mooses Tooth Draft SEIS
Mr. Neil Kornze Principal Deputy Director Bureau of Land Management 1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240 Dear Mr. Kornze, We are writing to respectfully request that the public comment period for the Bureau of Land Management's Greater Mooses Tooth 1 (GMT-1) Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS) be extended by thirty days. The significance of the proposed project, which would be the first commercial oil development on federal land within the National Petroleum Reserve… Continue Reading
02.04.14
House Democrats Request Hearing on Crude Oil Exports
Washington, D.C. -Today, Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Peter DeFazio (D-OR) sent a letter to Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) requesting a hearing on the potential economic, consumer, and environmental impacts of lifting the American crude oil export ban. The letter was cosigned by Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Ranking Member of the Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Subcommittee, Rush Holt (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Energy and Mineral Resource Subcommitte… Continue Reading
02.03.14
Natural Resource Democrats Request Emergency Hearing on Devastating Drought
Washington, D.C. -Today, Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Peter DeFazio (D-OR) led a letter co-signed by over a dozen Democrats to Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) requesting an emergency hearing to discuss the devastating drought plaguing western states. Eleven states have been declared disaster areas due to drought by the United States Department of Agriculture. California, which is seeing the driest conditions in 500 years, is experiencing extreme drought in over 62% of th… Continue Reading
01.24.14
DEFAZIO, GRIJALVA LEAD 109 DEMOCRATS IN URGING INTERIOR TO CONSERVE NATIONAL TREASURES USING ANTIQUITIES ACT
Washington, D.C. - Today, Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Public Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) released a letter co-signed by 109 House Democrats urging Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell to protect and conserve national treasures under the Antiquities Act. The letter was sent on the same day that Sec. Jewell will host a community meeting in New Mexico to discuss protecting the Organ Mountains. In the let… Continue Reading
01.17.14
DEFAZIO FIGHTS TO PROTECT AMERICAN JOBS, CURB ILLEGAL TIMBER TRADE
Washington, D.C. -In a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Representative Dan Benishek (R-MI) urged increased funding levels for critical measures that combat the illegal timber trade, which drains $1 billion a year from American producers. The bipartisan letter to Director of OMB Sylvia Mathews Burwell requests increased funding in the FY 2015 budget for the implementation and enforcement of the 20… Continue Reading
01.09.14
DeFazio, Holt, Pallone, and Garcia Express Concern Over Impacts of Offshore Oil Exploration
Washington, D.C. -Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-OR), ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, led a letter to the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expressing concern over the impacts of offshore oil and gas exploration and development activities on living marine resources. The letter asks DOI and NOAA to provide detailed information about how seismic testing and other acoustic tools affect marine mammals. In ad… Continue Reading