Press Releases
Grijalva’s Bill to Permanently Reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund Reaches 200 Bipartisan Cosponsors
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva's bill (H.R. 1814) to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) reached 200 bipartisan cosponsors today. LWCF is one of the nation's most successful public land conservation programs, but Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) allowed the Fund to expire for the first time in its 50-year history on September 30, 2015. Ranking Member Grijalva released the following statement on Chairman Bishop's refusal to hold a hearing on … Continue Reading
12.09.15
Hearing Wrap-Up: DOI’s Secretary Sally Jewell Testified on the Gold King Mine Spill in Colorado; GOP Fails to Address the Larger Problem of Abandoned Mines
Hearing Overview Interior Department Secretary Sally Jewell testified at a full Committee hearing on the Department of the Interior's independent technical report on the August Gold King Mine spill. This is the second hearing House Natural Resources Republicans held this year on this issue, which they have spent berating and badgering witnesses while ignoring the larger problem of abandoned hardrock mine lands (AMLs) throughout the country. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) continues to refuse to hold… Continue Reading
12.08.15
Native American Leaders Highlight Unfairness of Republican Push to Overhaul Tribal Recognition Process, Reject Push for H.R. 3764
Washington, D.C. - Native American leaders today highlighted their opposition to the premise of this morning's Natural Resources Committee hearing on H.R. 3764, introduced by Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), which would make federal recognition of tribes dependent solely on congressional approval rather than Interior Department expert analysis. The bill opens the door to congressional reconsideration of nearly 40 years of federal trust and treaty obligations and politicizes a process that has tradi… Continue Reading
12.07.15
Republicans Spend Entire Fisheries Hearing Ignoring Economic Impacts, Denying Climate Change and Rejecting Consumer Requests
Riverhead, N.Y. - Natural Resources Committee Republicans took their climate denial show on the road today for the benefit of freshman Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.). At a just-concluded field hearing in Zeldin's eastern Long Island district, Republicans and their invited witnesses criticized the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) efforts to promote ecosystem-based management and other precautionary management tools to ensure economically sustainable fisheries harvests in the fa… Continue Reading
12.02.15
Wrap-Up: Dec. 2 Hearing on the National Park Service Centennial Act Shows Need for Stronger Congressional Funding for NPS
Hearing Overview Today's Subcommittee on Federal Lands hearing featured a discussion draft of the National Park Service Centennial Act offered by Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah). Bishop's draft bill is modeled on the Obama Administration's proposal, which was introduced in September by Ranking Member Grijalva as H.R. 3556, and is designed to provide the National Park Service (NPS) with the funding and updated authority it needs to prepare for a second century. The discussion draft is similar to H… Continue Reading
12.02.15
Ranking Member Grijalva on House Energy Bill Up for Debate This Afternoon: “No Excuse for This Committee’s Meager Contributions”
Washington, D.C. - As world leaders gather in Paris to negotiate a global agreement on developing clean energy sources and preventing climate change, the Republican-led House of Representatives is preparing to vote later today on amendments to H.R. 8, a partisan energy bill that does nothing to address American reliance on fossil fuels or the climate damage done by carbon emissions. The bill includes only two small measures - passed on a party-line basis earlier this year - from the Natural Reso… Continue Reading
11.19.15
Ranking Member Grijalva Hails Analysis Showing $51 Million in Economic Benefits in Proposed Arizona National Monument Area
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today highlighted a newly published analysis of the significant economic benefits of a large swathe of public land in Northern Arizona he has proposed to protect as a new national monument. The analysis, conducted by BBC Research & Consulting on behalf of the Center for Western Priorities, shows that the land - to the north and south of Grand Canyon National Park - already generates approximately $51 million in economic activity each … Continue Reading
11.18.15
Hearing Wrap-up: Nov. 18 Hearing on Chairman Bishop’s Discussion Draft of a Bill to Change the Popular Land and Water Conservation Fund
Note: The original version of this press release said that Chairman Bishop "introduced" the PARC Act. There is currently only a discussion draft of the bill, and nothing has been introduced that would involve holding a vote. This version of the press release says Bishop has "drafted" the version of the PARC Act discussed at the hearing. Hearing Overview Today's Natural Resources Committee hearing focused on the Protecting America's Recreation and Conservation (PARC) Act, a bill drafted by Chai… Continue Reading
11.17.15
Ahead of LWCF Rewrite Hearing, Analysis Shows Millions of Dollars in Federal Conservation Benefits in Committee Members’ Districts
Washington, D.C. - Ahead of tomorrow's Natural Resources Committee hearing on Chairman Rob Bishop's (R-Utah) rewrite of the Land and Water Conservation Fund - which House Republicans allowed to expire on Sept. 30 for the first time in its 50-year history - a new analysis shows that many of the districts represented by Committee Democrats and Republicans enjoy millions of dollars in LWCF conservation benefits. The future of those benefits, and the possibility of extending them to new conservation… Continue Reading
11.17.15
House Republicans Continue to Stall on Efforts to Reauthorize LWCF, America’s Best Parks Program
After failing to reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), our nation's most effective outdoor recreation and conservation grant program, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) released a discussion draft of his bill to rewrite the 50-year-old program. On November 18, 2015, the House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the “Protecting America’s Recreation and Conservation (PARC) Act,” the Republican proposal to eviscerate the Fund and change its purpose. Click here to view a recap… Continue Reading
11.16.15
Grijalva on House Vote Rejecting Effort to Block Arizona Tribe From Building Casino: “Courts and Congress Agree – Let’s Move On”
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement after the House failed to pass H.R. 308, a bill blocking the Tohono O'odham tribe from building a court-approved casino in Glendale, Ariz., under suspension of the rules. "Courts have consistently found this casino is legal and the Tohono O'odham have acted appropriately in developing it. It has already created construction jobs and is on the threshold of signif… Continue Reading
11.06.15
Ranking Member Grijalva on President Obama’s Keystone Rejection: “A Testament to Years of Public Action on a Critical Issue”
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), a leading House critic of the Keystone XL pipeline proposal, hailed today's announcement that President Obama will formally reject Keystone as not being in the national interest. Grijalva cited the tremendous effort of Americans around the country who organized and campaigned for years against the pipeline. "This is a testament to years of public action on a critical issue," said Grijalva, who… Continue Reading
11.05.15
Grijalva on New GOP Bill to Undermine Land and Water Conservation Fund: “There Wasn’t a Problem Until They Let the Fund Expire”
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement on the release of Chairman Rob Bishop's (R-Utah) new bill to weaken the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which the House Republican majority allowed to expire in September for the first time in its 50-year history. Bishop has refused to hold a hearing on Grijalva's bill (H.R. 1814) to reauthorize the program, which currently has 195 bipartisan cosponsors.… Continue Reading
11.05.15
Abandoned Mine Lands Hearing Wrap-up: Speakers Agree More Funding Needed to Clean Up Abandoned Mines
Hearing Wrap-up: Nov. 4 Legislative Hearing on Energy and Mineral Resources on Abandoned Mine Lands Democrats, Witnesses Agree: Additional Funding Needed to Clean up Abandoned Mines Bills H.R. 3843, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.): To authorize for a 7-year period the collection of claim location and maintenance fees, and for other purposes. ''Locatable Minerals Claim Location and Maintenance Fees Act of 2015.'' H.R. 3844, Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.): To establish the Energy and Minerals Reclamatio… Continue Reading
11.04.15
Grijalva Applauds Voter Approval of Washington State-Level Ivory Ban, Decries Republican Efforts in Congress to Block Federal Rule
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement today on the overwhelming passage of Initiative Measure 1401 in Washington State: "The voters of Washington State made it clear today that they do not want to be a part of the global wildlife poaching and trafficking crisis. While they took the initiative to ban most sales of elephant ivory, House Republicans continue to push their extinction agenda by trying to… Continue Reading
11.04.15
Grijalva Hosts Tribal Sovereignty Roundtable Today, Will Accept More Than 1 Million Petition Signatures on Protecting Sacred Land
Washington, D.C. - Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, the Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, will accept more than 1 million petition signatures from a broad coalition of activists at a roundtable today in favor of protecting the Oak Flat area of Arizona sacred to the Apaches, the Yavapai and other Native Americans. Because of a last-minute Republican addition to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) forcing a federal land trade - which the House had failed to pass … Continue Reading
11.03.15
Leading Congressional Keystone Critic Grijalva Calls on Administration to Reject Keystone in Light of Parent Company’s Delay Request
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), a leading critic of the Keystone XL pipeline proposal who published a Feb. 26, 2014, New York Times op-ed urging President Obama to reject it, today hailed the announcement that Keystone's parent company is now seeking to delay the final federal approval decision. Grijalva said TransCanada should withdraw its application altogether in the face of overwhelming evidence that Canadian tar sands wi… Continue Reading
11.03.15
Grijalva Introduces Landmark Bill to Create Grand Canyon-Area National Monument to Honor Area Tribal History, Protect Watershed
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) introduced a landmark bill this morning to create a new national monument to protect the Grand Canyon watershed and honor the region's rich Native American history and culture. The Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument Act - developed with extensive input from the Grand Canyon-Associated Tribes and enthusiastically endorsed by the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Havasupai Tribe, and… Continue Reading
11.02.15
Roundtable on Protecting Tribal Land Chaired by Ranking Member Grijalva on Nov. 4 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. - Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, the Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, is hosting a roundtable with Native American leaders this Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to discuss federal efforts to protect sacred tribal land. The roundtable will focus on the dangerous precedent being set in Arizona at a location called Oak Flat, which is sacred to the San Carlos Apache Tribe, by a mining company called Resolution Copper. A Republican-sponsored bill became law late… Continue Reading
10.29.15
New NOAA Report States Sustainable Fisheries Management Policies are Making U.S. Fisheries Profitable and Sustainable; Grijalva Says, “The Magnuson-Stevens Act is Working”
Sustainable fisheries management policies have allowed America's commercial and recreational fisheries to be powerful economic contributors, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) annual Fisheries of the United States report released today. The report also states that the value of fishery landings held steady in 2014 and match those of the past decade. NOAA estimates that rebuilding stocks, which remain overfished, would add $31 billion and 500,000 new jobs to th… Continue Reading