TOP NEWS

Committee Approves Three Hastings’ Bills to Improve Public Access in Washington

On Wednesday, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed three pieces of legislation authored by Hastings that would provide greater recreational access to the public, increase tourism, and create new fishing opportunities in Central Washington. The three bipartisan bills, pertaining to Rattlesnake Mountain, Stehekin Road, and North Cascades fish stocking, passed the full Committee by unanimous consent. Hastings, who chairs the Committee, reintroduced the three bills last month for the 113th Congress. All three of Hastings’ bills passed the House of Representatives with broad, bipartisan support in the 112th Congress (2011-2012). The bills are now ready for consideration by the full House of Representatives.

Bipartisan Bill to Create a Manhattan Project National Historic Park Passes Committee

Also this week, the Natural Resources Committee approved by unanimous consent H.R. 1208, the “Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act” – bipartisan legislation authored by Hastings that would establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park including facilities at Hanford. The Manhattan Project was an unprecedented top-secret program to produce an atomic bomb before Nazi Germany. The action taken by the Committee this week makes the bill eligible for consideration by the full House. “Today the Manhattan Project National Historic Park is one step closer to becoming a reality. I’m committed to bringing the bill to the House floor this Congress and working with the Senate to get it signed into law. These facilities have an important, interesting, and historic story to tell and this bill would ensure that their doors remain open to visitors for years to come,” said Hastings.

Hastings Tours Pacific Coast Canola Facility in Warden

On Monday, April 22nd, Hastings met with Matt Upmeyer at Pacific Coast Canola and toured their state-of-the-art “canola seed to canola oil” facility that recently opened in Warden. Pacific Coast Canola produces food-grade canola oil and canola meal. The Warden crusher is the first commercial-scale canola crushing operation west of the Rockies.

Hastings Meets with Members of the Northwest Public Power Association

Last Wednesday, Hastings met with members of the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) in his D.C. office. NWPPA is a not-for-profit trade association of nearly 160 public utility districts, including several in Central Washington, electric cooperatives, and municipalities in the Pacific Northwest. The NWPPA members discussed their concerns with Hastings regarding former Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s memo, which could significantly increase electricity rates on 40 million Americans. They also discussed the importance of protecting our region’s hydropower system, as well as Hastings’ bill to protect endangered Columbia River salmon and other fish species from California and Steller sea lions.

http://www.marinij.com/opinion/ci_23100673/editorial-huffman-wants-make-sure-pt-reyes-promises

Marin Independent Journal Editorial

Posted:   04/25/2013 04:52:00 AM PDT

Jared Huffman talks to Clifford Waldeck on Thursday in downtown San Rafael. (IJ photo/Frankie Frost)

Congressman McClintock today delivered the following remarks on the House floor:

Keep Yosemite Tourist-Friendly
House Chamber, Washington, D.C.
April 24, 2013

Mr. Speaker:

            I rise today in strong opposition to a proposal by the National Park Service to remove long-standing tourist facilities from Yosemite National Park, including bicycle and raft rentals, snack facilities, gift shops, horseback riding, the ice rink at Curry Village, tennis courts and swimming pools, the art center and the historic stone Sugar Pine Bridge.  These facilities date back generations and provide visitors with a wide range of amenities to enhance their stay at – and their enjoyment of – this world-renowned national park.

            To add insult to insanity, all this comes with a quarter-billion dollar price tag.

           Yosemite belongs to the American people, and the Park Service’s job is to welcome them and accommodate them when they visit their park – not restrict and harass them.  Indeed, Yosemite was set aside nearly 150 years ago by legislation signed by Abraham Lincoln specifically for “the public use, resort and recreation…for all time.”  This proposal fundamentally changes the entire purpose for which Yosemite was set aside in the first place.

        Tourists don’t go where they’re not wanted.  Yosemite competes with thousands of other vacation destinations, and the more inconvenient and unpleasant Park managers make it for Yosemite visitors, the fewer visitors they’ll have.  That might be more convenient to them, but it will devastate the economy of all the surrounding communities whose economies depend on tourism.

            The Park Service is attempting to justify this as a court-ordered response to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.  This is disingenuous.  The settlement agreement they refer to simply requires that a plan be adopted consistent with current law relative to the Merced River – it does not mandate such radical changes in long-standing visitor services and amenities.

            Indeed, former Congressman Tony Coelho, who authored the act that designated the Merced under provisions of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, has just released a strong letter condemning the proposal, saying in no uncertain terms:

            “The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was never intended to apply to the Merced River within Yosemite National Park at all.  The Merced River within Yosemite National Park is protected and regulated by the National Park Service and has never needed an overlay of inconsistent and confusing regulation…The Merced River in Yosemite Valley has been recreational for almost 150 years.  Yosemite Valley has never been wilderness.  Any plan which proceeds should not change any infrastructure or ban any activities traditionally carried on in Yosemite Valley.”

            Indeed, when Mr. Coelho authored the legislation designating the Merced as Wild and Scenic, these tourist facilities already existed and nowhere in the bill’s findings is there any mention of an intention to force their closure or to override Park policies.  In fact, many of the facilities slated for removal are not even on the Merced River and do not in any way impede or affect its flow.

            The officials of the National Park Service are clearly not required to take these actions.  It is becoming increasingly apparent that they want to take them and that they intend to take them, despite widespread public opposition from all but the most radical elements of the Environmental Left.

            Indeed, when 13 members of the California Congressional delegation, including liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans alike, asked for an extension of the public comment period, the Park Service grudgingly extended it by all of 12 days.  Twelve days.

            It is obvious that Park officials have already made up their minds and are merely walking through the formalities.  I believe that this matter and related issues of public access cry out for a Congressional investigation.

           In the mean time, if members of the public wish to protest the elimination of many of the Yosemite Valley’s tourist amenities and iconic landmarks, their time is running out.  My website, at mcclintock.house.gov provides guidance on how people can protest this action, and I strongly urge them to do so.

U.S. Claims Court To Hear Case Involving Unlawful Seizure of Livestock by U.S. Forest Service

In a published decision handed down April 4, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims denied a U.S. Forest Service motion to dismiss in a case brought by Arizona rancher Daniel Gabino Martinez asserting a Constitution Fifth Amendment taking of property in the nature of cattle.   The cattle were grazing both on patented lands, and utilizing vested water sources on rangelands appurtenant to the ranch in the area at issue.  The Martinez complaint alleges a taking of property without a either a court order or a warrant, and the denial of Constitutional and statutory due process of law.

Mr. Martinez is one the many victims of the longstanding policy of the federal agencies to extinguish property interests on federally managed lands such as vested water rights, improvements, forage rights and rights of ways without compensation to further their conservation agenda.  Mr. Martinez purchased his rights from his predecessors-in-interest on a ranch that was established in 1882.  The property interests he acquired had vested under the “local laws, customs and court decisions of the times” when the ranch was founded and were acknowledged by Congress in the Mining Act of July 26, 1866.  The property rights had vested in Mr. Martinez by purchase through an exhaustive chain of title through a series of contracts, parol sales and wills dating back to 1882.

Even though Mr. Martinez offered to sign a grazing permit for those areas beyond his vested property rights, the Forest Service denied the permit because Gabino’s  father, Abe Martinez, would not waive his property rights to the agency by signing a “Waiver of Permit”.   The confiscation of the Martinez cattle and source of income for the ranch was part of a thinly veiled attempt by the Forest Service to drive Mr. Martinez out of business and destroy the value of his ranch.  Attorney for the case is Mark Pollot of Boise, Idaho.

(Court House New Service)

PETA Plans to Fly Drones That Would ‘Stalk Hunters’

PETA says it’s actively shopping for a drone to monitor hunters

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is actively shopping for a drone that would “stalk hunters,” the organization said Monday.

The group says it will “soon have some impressive new weapons at its disposal to combat those who gun down deer and doves” and that it is “shopping for one or more drone aircraft with which to monitor those who are out in the woods with death on their minds.”

The group says it will not weaponize the drones, but will use them to film potentially illegal hunting activity and turn it over to law enforcement.

(U.S. News)

Top Ten Crazy Global Warming Solutions

Here’s the top ten list from the California Chapter of American’s for Prosperity.
#10 Wrap Greenland in a Blanket
#9 Make More Clouds
#8 Giant Space Mirrors
#7 Make Us All Vegans
#6 Live in Trash with Heat from Sewers
#5 Algae Covered Buildings
#4 Mechanical Soda Trees
#3 Skyscraper Farms
#2 Less Humans
# 1 Craziest idea to solve global warming — A World of Midgets with Catlike Eyes Who Don’t Eat Meat.

(You Tube)

Congressman McClintock’s Letter to Park Service Takes Issue with Attempts to Block Public Access In Yosemite

In a letter to Park Service Superintendant Don Nuebacher, Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA) criticizes the National Park Service Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) regarding Yosemite National Park and the Merced River which runs through it.  In particular, McClintock takes issue with the DEIS proposals which eliminate the public’s access within the park and river contrary to the intent of Congress when it created Yosemite.

(Sierra Sun Times)

Congressman Tom McClintock today submitted the attached letter commenting on the Merced River Draft Comprehensive Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.

April 12, 2013

Don Neubacher, Superintendent
Attn: Merced River Plan
P.O. Box 577
Yosemite, CA 95389

Dear Mr. Neubacher:

I am writing to provide comments on the National Park Service’s (NPS) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Merced River Comprehensive Management Plan.  Yosemite National Park is a national treasure that must be available for the American public to access and enjoy in the same manner that Americans have for decades.   The 1864 Act authorizing the original Yosemite land grant to the State of California stated that the “premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation” and “shall be inalienable for all time.”  The draft plan in question directly contravenes the authorization, and I am firmly against NPS taking any action that would limit public access and enjoyment of Yosemite.

Congress enacted the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to protect free-flowing rivers from dams and other development.  Congress did not intend for NPS to use the Act to justify limiting visitation, closing facilities and eliminating or curtailing historic uses that pre-date passage of the Act and the Merced River designation under the Act.   In designating the Merced River, Congress understood that Yosemite National Park had a multitude of existing facilities that served River users, that Yosemite was widely visited and that the Merced River was extensively used for recreational pursuits by Park visitors.  See S. Rep. No. 96, 100th Cong, 1st Sess. 1987 (the river is an “outstanding and heavily used recreation resource in the areas of easy accessibility”).

The Merced River’s designation was based upon the River’s value as a popular recreation resource in a highly-visited National Park that was supported by the extensive facilities that existed at the time of the River’s designation.  Congress could not have intended for NPS to limit visitation or do away with the existing facilities and the recreational activities that support the values that caused the Merced River to be designated in the first place.  Congress also did not intend its designation to drive planning of the larger Park and force the closure of facilities that pre-date the Act, enhance visitor experiences, and are located outside of the Merced River.

It is equally troubling that NPS is proposing to close a number of facilities within Yosemite Village and reduce recreational activities in the Yosemite Valley.  NPS claims that camping will be increased to 640 campsites but that figure is still less than the 830 campsites that existed before the 1997 flood.  NPS is also proposing to close the Curry Village ice skating rink, bike rental facilities, snack stands, swimming pools, tennis courts, retail stores and horse stables and stock use.  These facilities are not located in the Merced River, do not impede its flow, and many existed and historically served Yosemite visitors for decades prior to Congress passing the Act.

It defies logic that NPS is proposing to close these facilities not because they degrade the Merced River, but instead because in NPS’s eyes, these longstanding facilities do not benefit the River.  What about the benefits that the American public will lose under NPS’s proposal?  NPS is also proposing to eliminate commercial rafting on the River.  Like the existing facilities, commercial rafting is a service that was offered before the Merced River’s designation under the Act.

I am also concerned about the proposed destruction of the Sugar Pine Bridge.  This historic stone bridge was built in 1928 (40 years before enactment of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act) and was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.  The National Historic Preservation Act directs federal agencies to preserve the historic properties under their control and the legislation designating the Merced River as Wild and Scenic does not require the bridge’s destruction.  I do not believe that the Park Service may simply ignore its responsibilities under the National Historic Preservation Act to protect the Sugar Pine Bridge and find no justification for robbing Yosemite of this iconic landmark.

Finally, I am aware that NPS has received a number of requests for an extension of the public comment period on the Merced River plan.  This is entirely understandable given that the plan and its exhibits are over 4,000 pages long, and that the comment period overlaps with the comment periods of two other major Yosemite Park plans.  To ensure that the public has an adequate opportunity to provide its input, I concur that an extension is necessary, and therefore have requested that NPS extend its public comment period on the Merced River Plan by 90 days to ensure full public opportunity to comment on this important issue.

I submit these comments greatly troubled by the adverse and lasting effects this would have on Yosemite and the many visitors who enjoy the park.

Sincerely,

Tom McClintock

Click for PDF copy

 Chairman Hastings Unveils Draft Proposal to Restore Active Forest Management and Help Rural Schools & Counties

Legislative hearing scheduled for April 11^th

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today unveiled a draft proposal to address the expiration of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program.   The draft proposal, Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act, renews the federal government’s commitment to manage forest resources for the benefit of rural schools and counties by allowing active forest management projects to take place in areas specifically identified by the U.S. Forest Service as capable of timber production.

The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation will hold a legislative hearing on the draft bill, and others, on Thursday, April 11^th 2013 at 10:00 A.M.

“The federal government made a promise over 100 years ago to actively manage our forests and provide a stable revenue stream for counties containing National Forest land.  The federal government’s inability to uphold this promise and tie our forest lands up in bureaucratic red tape has left counties without sufficient funds to pay for teachers, police officers and emergency services; devastated local economies and cost thousands of jobs throughout rural America; and left our forests susceptible to deadly wildfires.  Due to the lack of healthy forest management, last year 44 times as many acres of U.S. Forest land burned in wildfires than were responsibly harvested.  This is unacceptable and exposes the fundamental failure of the federal government to keep our forests healthy,” said Chairman Hastings. “There are timber lands that have already been specifically identified by the Forest Service as areas capable of timber production.  This draft proposal would simply cut through red tape to allow responsible timber production to occur in those areas and make the federal government uphold its commitment to rural schools and counties.”

·         Specifically, the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act:

o    Requires that the Forest Service actively manage its commercial timber lands to produce revenues.

o    Requires the Forest Service to produce at least half of the sustainable yield of timber each year and, as required by law since 1908, share 25 percent of receipts with the counties.

o    Protects the environment by requiring projects to complete National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations, but streamlines the process to avoid frivolous and lengthy delays, lawsuits, and bureaucratic red tape.

o    Will provide an extension of SRS payments to allow counties to transition back to payments from active forest management.

Background:

Under federal law passed in 1908, the U.S. Forest Service has historically shared 25 percent of all timber revenues with rural counties containing National Forest land to compensate them for large amounts of federal land that cannot be taxed.  Since that time, these “25 percent payments” have provided counties with much-needed funding for essential services such as education and infrastructure.  Yet by the late 1990s timber harvests dramatically declined due to federal overregulation and harmful lawsuits, prompting Congress in 2000 to pass the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS).  SRS was created to provide “transition payments” over a six year period while Congress worked to increase timber production, or rural counties found an alternative source of revenue.

However, since the passage of SRS the federal government has failed to oversee a transition into increased timber production yet continued to provide money to these counties without ensuring the public land is properly managed.  Lack of active forest management inhibits job creation, deprives counties of revenue to fund schools and roads, and makes our National Forests increasingly susceptible to wildfires and invasive species.  As a result, many rural counties are suffering double-digit unemployment with little hope of creating meaningful jobs without access to common sense management of the public lands.

SRS payments were extended through fiscal year 2012.  Payments to counties will decline by 80 percent next year unless Congress takes action.  The Obama Administration has also notified States that it intends to retroactively subject SRS payments, which were made to counties in January based on fiscal year 2012 revenues, to the fiscal year 2013 sequester. It is requesting repayment of $17.9 million in SRS and 25 percent fund payments that have already been disbursed to States.

###

Washington, D.C., Mar 21 - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today reintroduced bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting endangered Columbia River salmon and other fish species from predation by California and steller sea lions. H.R. 1308, the Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act would allow states and tribes to obtain permits for lethal removal of the most aggressive sea lions in order to deter predation and help protect endangered salmon as they return to spawn. Chairman Hastings is joined by bill cosponsors Reps. Greg Walden (OR-02), Michael K. Simpson (ID-02), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), and Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03).

“For years now, Northwest ratepayers have paid hundreds of millions of dollars every year on measures to protect endangered salmon migrating through our Columbia River dams, only to see a growing number fall prey to aggressive sea lions that camp out at the base of the Bonneville Dam and other places,” said Hastings. “I am pleased to once again introduce this bipartisan legislation to ensure that, despite endless litigation, federal and Northwest state agencies will be permitted to work with local tribes using all available methods, including lethal removal of the most aggressive of these predators, to protect this important resource.”

In recent years sea lions have been entering the lower 205 miles of the Columbia River and around Bonneville Dam and feasting on fish. According to previous state court filings, during winter and spring months, as many as 1,000 California Sea Lions can be in the lower Columbia River, each of which consumes fifteen to thirty pounds of fish per day. Conservative estimates show that sea lions during April and May, California Sea Lions eat 12,000 to 20,000 fish throughout the Columbia River and its tributaries, which comprise a significant percentage of the overall salmon runs.

As near-record runs of salmon are returning to the Columbia River to spawn, the sea lion populations have substantially increased and are a growing threat to endangered salmon runs and other fish species. Despite dramatic population increases in recent decades, sea lions enjoy strong federal protection making it virtually impossible to control them. Scientific task forces have been convened for several years and have concluded that non-lethal removal have not been effective.

Hastings’ bill, which is identical to legislation he introduced last Congress that passed the House of Representatives in June 2012 by a bipartisan vote of 232 to 188, allows for the issuance of state and tribal permits to lethally remove increasing predatory, sea lions that consume tens of thousands of endangered salmon and other fish species in the Columbia River and their tributaries. The bill only addresses sea lions that are not listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Last year, following another round of scientific determinations by technical review teams that lethal removal authority was needed, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration authorized the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho to permanently remove California sea lions between the months of March and May. Shortly thereafter, the Humane Society of the U.S., filed a complaint and motion for an injunction to block implementation of the states’ authority to lethally remove sea lions. An Oregon federal judge denied the injunction, and in February 2013, dismissed the Humane Society’s complaint, paving the way for the state permits to proceed this year. On March 12, 2013, the Humane Society filed another appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. H.R. 1308 would stop the continual yearly litigation.

PNP comment: Congressman McClintock is right on. The Greenie Ph.D. lives in a fantasy world twisted with lies. — Editor Liz Bowen

Cal Watchdog

PNP comment: This is not good. We do not want to be next with 600,000 acres put in the Siskiyou Crest Monument that straddles California and Oregon border. — Editor Liz Bowen

Chairman Hastings’ Statement on President Obama’s Plan to Use Antiquities Act to Unilaterally Designate Five New National Monuments

 WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after President Obama announced his intentions to unilaterally designate five new National Monuments using presidential powers granted under the 1906 Antiquities Act.

“The Obama Administration not only sees the sequester as an opportunity to make automatic spending reductions as painful as possible on the American people, it’s also a good time for the President to dictate under a century-old law that the government spend money it doesn’t have on property it doesn’t even own.

President Obama has closed the White House to public tours but he’s unilaterally ordering the National Park Service to spend scarce dollars on little-known, privately-owned property in Delaware.

Over one hundred years ago the Antiquities Act was passed to allow a President to act when there was an emergency need to prevent destruction of a precious place – yet President Obama is acting on simple whim as no imminent threat of destruction or harm is posed at any of these five locations.

Several of these designations may merit preservation and be popular with some advocates in the local community, but this outdated law can be used by a President to unilaterally impose policies unwelcome and strongly opposed by local elected leaders and Governors for the economic harm caused to their small rural communities and states. Especially troubling are the inclusion of private property in these new monuments and the lack of transparency that surrounds monument designations where the White House and President work in secret and are able to thwart public review, public comment and consideration of environmental and economic impacts. The law is in need of review and reform to guarantee transparency and the approval of local communities and their elected leaders.”

The Blaze.com

Mar. 16, 2013 12:05pm Madeleine Morgenstern

Will he?

Dr. Ben Carson seemed to drop several major hints about his political future in a speech to conservative activists Saturday morning, including with a hypothetical, “say you magically put me into the White House.”

The remark brought cheering audience members at the Conservative Political Action Conference to their feet and prompted a laughing Carson to put up his hands and say, “I take it back.”

The neurosurgeon, who shot to political fame after his headline-grabbing speech at the National Prayer Breakfast last month, had been talking about what he would do if he were trying to destroy the country: create division among citizens, create a culture of ridiculing morality and undermine the nation’s financial stability.

“It appears coincidentally that those are the things that are happening right now, and the question is how do we stop it?” Carson said.

During a Q&A after his speech, Carson said he was leaving medicine in 106 days to focus on other things. He has previously said he would retire this summer. He told CPAC attendees he wants to go out while still at the top of his game.

“There’s so many more things that can be done,” Carson said, adding that he is very dedicated to educating the next generation.

“Once we get that taken care of, who knows what I might do?” Carson said.

Carson’s full speech is below; his remarks begin at the 21:00 mark.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/16/2016-hint-ben-carson-say-you-magically-put-me-into-the-white-house/

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Related:

• Ben Carson: White House Repeatedly Asked for an Advance Copy of My Speech

• Dr. Ben Carson Responds to Questions About Potential Political Future: ‘I’ll Leave That Up to God’

• Dr. Carson Tells TheBlaze How Obama Reacted to His Bold Prayer Breakfast Speech: ‘I Figured He Would Just Be Fuming’

• Conservative Doc Reveals Why He Spoke Out Against Obama’s Policies at Prayer Breakfast — Plus, Would He Ever Run for President?

• See the Prayer Breakfast Speech That’s Grabbing Headlines: Doctor Attacks Political Correctness, National Debt in Front of Obama