Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Federal Lands
TIME CHANGE: Chair Grijalva, Rep. Haaland, Former BLM Administration Officials to Speak at Wednesday Press Conference on Forced Transfer of D.C.-Based Employees
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, will lead a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday morning at the U.S. Capitol to discuss the Trump administration's forced move of hundreds of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employees to Grand Junction, Colo., and elsewhere across the West. Former BLM Director Bob Abbey and former BLM Deputy Director Henri B… Continue Reading
12.05.19
Natural Resources Committee Advances Bills to Protect Native Women, Children and Families, Designate Wilderness, and Recover Wildlife
Washington D.C. - Today Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) led a Committee markup to advance key Natural Resources priorities, including bills to protect Native women, children and families from violence. Among other measures, the Committee approved H.R. 3977, sponsored by Committee Vice Chair Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), which expands the jurisdiction of tribal courts to prosecute non-Native perpetrators who commit crimes of sexual violence on tribal lands, and H.R. 4957, sponsored by Subco… Continue Reading
12.04.19
New Letter: Chair Grijalva Warns Bernhardt of Potential Liability on Forced BLM Staff Move Without Disparate Impact Analysis – Reiterates Doc Requests
Washington, D.C. - In a new letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt this morning, Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) warns of potential legal liability for the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) stemming from BLM's forced move of employees based in Washington, D.C., to Grand Junction, Colo., and elsewhere throughout the West. Without analyzing the forced move's potential impacts on BLM staff diversity, Grijalva writes, the Trump administration is o… Continue Reading
11.21.19
Natural Resources Committee Advances Legislation To Protect Wilderness, Fight Climate Change
Washington D.C. - Today Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) led a Committee markup to advance key Natural Resources priorities, including four bills that protect 1.3 million acres of wilderness in California and Colorado. The bills' passage is the most recent step in the Committee's ongoing efforts to protect public lands, promote access for all Americans and combat the climate crisis. Following the markup, Natural Resources Democrats released the first edition of their new Climate Solution… Continue Reading
11.18.19
Chair Grijalva, Subcommittee Chairs Write to Bernhardt Urging No Action on Utah Monument Area Management Plans Pending Lawsuit, GAO Findings
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter with all five subcommittee chairs to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt today urging no action be taken on proposed Resource Management Plans (RMP) and Final Environmental Impact Statements (FEIS) for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the Kanab-Escalante Planning Area, pending the outcome of ongoing litigation on President Trump's illegal shrinking of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The letter, … Continue Reading
10.30.19
Chair Grijalva Hails Passage of Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act to Block New Uranium Mining – Thanks Allies for Victory a Decade in the Making
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today hailed House passage of the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act, which advanced on a 236-185 vote. The bill sets a permanent moratorium on new uranium mining claims on just over 1 million acres of federally protected public lands to the north and south of Grand Canyon National Park. Its passage represents a legislative victory more than a decade in the making for Grijalva, who first introduced the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protec… Continue Reading
10.29.19
Chair Grijalva, Rep. O’Halleran, Supporters of “Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act” Holding Post-Vote Press Conference on Wednesday Evening
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Tom O'Halleran (D-Ariz.) will hold a press conference at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, Oct. 30, in H-137 at the U.S. Capitol following the House vote on Grijalva's Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act. The lawmakers will be joined by Native American and other supporters of the bill, which puts a permanent moratorium on new uranium mining claims on more than 1 million acres around Grand Canyon National Park. The event w… Continue Reading
10.24.19
Chair Grijalva, Rep. Huffman Request Administration Data on Impacts From Potential Rollback of Roadless Rule in Tongass National Forest
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen today seeking more information on how the Trump administration's proposal to end Roadless Rule protections for the Tongass National Forest will impact indigenous communities, the regional economy, local salmon habitats, and the health of vital watershed… Continue Reading
10.15.19
In New Video, Arizonans Urge Permanent Grand Canyon Protection Ahead of Expected Vote on Chair Grijalva’s “Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act”
Washington, D.C. - In a newly released video, Arizonans from all walks of life describe the need to protect the Grand Canyon from new uranium mining claims ahead of an expected vote later this month on Chair Raúl M. Grijalva's (D-Ariz.) Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act. The video, available on Twitter here and Facebook here, includes voices from the Native American, sportsmen and business communities. Chair Grijalva introduced the bill in February. A vote is expected on the House f… Continue Reading
10.15.19
Chair Grijalva, Leading Democrats Promise Oversight of Trump Administration Proposal to Remove Protections for Millions of Acres of American Rainforest
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and other leading Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee today promised targeted oversight following the U.S. Forest Service's proposal to roll back existing protections for millions of acres of roadless national forests in Alaska. By undoing decades of environmental protections in roadless areas, the Trump administration threatens severe damage to millions of acres of pristine ecosystems, irreplaceable habitats and invaluabl… Continue Reading
09.25.19
Grijalva Letter to Sec. Bernhardt Requesting Documents on BLM Reorganization September 25 2019
09.25.19
Natural Resources Committee Advances 10 Bills, Including Ocean Climate Change Legislation
Washington D.C. - On the same day that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) led a markup on ocean-related climate change legislation. Among the 10 bills approved today, the Committee advanced legislation to conserve wetlands, to promote fish conservation, to provide grants to Indian Tribes for tribal coastal zones, to expand flood prevention, to support c… Continue Reading
09.19.19
Natural Resources Committee Approves 16 Bills, Including Key Legislation to Protect Wildlife, Improve Ocean Mapping, Better Manage Fisheries
Washington, D.C. - The House Natural Resources Committee approved 16 bills at a two-hour markup yesterday. Among other measures, the Committee advanced Chair Raúl M. Grijalva's (D-Ariz.) CECIL Act, which would strengthen the standards under which sport hunted trophies of endangered and threatened species could be imported, and Rep. Gregorio Sablan's (D-CNMI) bill to prohibit the sale of shark fins. Bill texts and amendments in the nature of a substitute can also be found by visiting the … Continue Reading
09.19.19
Chair Grijalva Blasts Trump Admin Handover of 560 Acres of Federally Protected Public Lands to Army Control for Border Wall Construction
Washington D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) issued the following statement on the news that President Trump's Department of the Interior will transfer 560 acres of federally protected public lands to the U.S. Army for the construction of 70 miles of Trump's unpopular border wall, paid for with taxpayer money. Grijalva recently released a video with exclusive footage of border wall construction in Arizona and interviews with residents. "The Trump administration has treated our bord… Continue Reading
09.05.19
Chair Grijalva Statement on New GAO Ruling That Trump Admin Illegally Moved Money During Government Shutdown
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz) released the following statement on the new Government Accountability Office ruling that the Trump administration illegally used federal money during the recent government shutdown to mitigate damage to National Park Service sites. According to the report, the Interior Department did not cooperate with GAO's investigation. "Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and his advisors consider federal laws a nuisance, not a set of standards. Noth… Continue Reading
08.23.19
Chair Grijalva on New Grand Staircase-Escalante Management Plan: “Never Mind the Law – The Trump Administration is Destroying Protected Places”
Washington, D.C. - Today the Trump administration released a new Monument Management Plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument that seeks to open hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands to new oil, gas, and coal extraction and other destructive uses. The new plan is a direct result of President Trump's illegal decision unilaterally to shrink monuments established under the Antiquities Act - a decision that faces an ongoing court challenge in which more than 100 members of Congr… Continue Reading
07.26.19
Leading Democrats Reject Trump Administration Management Plan for Bears Ears National Monument – Chair Grijalva Calls Release “Cynical”
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and other leading Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee today questioned the untimely release of the Department of the Interior's update to the Bears Ears National Monument Management Plan (MMP), which comes in the wake of President Trump's illegal decision to reduce the Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent. Trump's reduction of Bears Ears and the illegal reductions made to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monume… Continue Reading
07.25.19
Natural Resources Committee Will Hold Sept. 10 Hearing on Interior Secretary Bernhardt’s Order to Relocate Bureau of Land Management to Colorado
Washington, D.C. - The House Committee on Natural Resources will hold a hearing at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Sept. 10 - shortly after the House returns from the August recess - on the Trump administration's decision relocate the Bureau of Land Management headquarters to Grand Junction, Colo., and to move other offices and functions of the agency to offices across the West. The hearing will address the Trump administration's failure to offer any meaningful justification for the move, t… Continue Reading
07.17.19
Natural Resources Committee Passes Bill to Protect Chaco Canyon from Future Drilling – Vote Follows Field Hearing in April That Revealed Enormous Local Support
Washington D.C. - The House Natural Resources Committee today approved Assistant Speaker Rep. Ben Ray Luján's (D-N.M.) H.R. 2181, the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act, which withdraws federal land around New Mexico's Chaco Culture National Historical Park from future oil and gas leasing. The bill is co-sponsored by Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Committee Vice-Chair Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.), Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif), Rep. Rube… Continue Reading
07.15.19
Chair Grijalva on Expected Bureau of Land Management Move to Colorado: This is Industry Favoritism and Staff Cutting, Not Improving Public Service
Washington, D.C. - Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement on reports that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt intends to move the Bureau of Land Management headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Grand Junction, Colo. Bernhardt, a native of nearby Rifle, Colo., and other top Interior officials have resisted the Committee's calls for transparency on the Trump administration's plans to "reorganize" the Interior Department or affiliated agencies. "This administrat… Continue Reading