Natural Resources
As an attorney, I fought to return control of natural resources to local entities, not far-away federal bureaucrats. I am honored to serve on the Natural Resources committee to continue this work from the halls of Congress. I also have the privilege of chairing the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, working with tribal and territorial leaders on issues important to their communities.
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Healthcare centers on tribal lands have traditionally been underfunded and understaffed; often the buildings are severely rundown and equipment is unable to address the needs of those seeking medical services.
Members of Congress must work together to equip the Indian Healthcare Service with much needed equipment and staff to provide much-needed care to those in need of it.
I have fought for Wyoming's water rights and represented irrigation districts and farmers for decades. Nearly every major water reclamation act has been met with negativity and criticism by naysayers and academics, yet history has shown the value and economic impact of these projects across the board.
The Constitution states that the purpose of government is to promote the welfare of its citizens, yet centuries of government regulations and laws related to Native American tribes often hamper their success and threaten to put them at a disadvantage.
My bills discussed here hope to clear the red tape and open new paths towards economic growth for all federally recognized tribes, instead of perpetuating the current piecemeal approach that encumbers tribes and unnecessarily drains government resources
The Indian Non-Intercourse Act and Long-Term Leasing Act, in their current forms, are regularly amended. This creates a piecemeal approach to governing and provides no certainty for Tribes to plan their futures. Tribal governments already seek to make the best decisions for their members, for their social, cultural, and economic security.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs held a legislative hearing on two bills to increase tribal authority and control over their lands.
The delisting of grizzly bears in Wyoming and the surrounding Yellowstone region is grossly overdue, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Brian Nesvik told members of Congress.
“The reason (grizzly bears) remain listed is not based in biology, but rather in administrative complexities and technicalities espoused by federal judges and court decisions,” Nesvik said during testimony Thursday at a legislative hearing before the U.S. House Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee.
In 2005, Wyoming grizzly bears reached the recovery threshold provided within the Endangered Species Act. Yet despite the backstops and tripwire mechanisms available to protect recovered species from declining into dangerous territory, they still remain on the endangered species list, even though there are now 500 more grizzly bears than originally required.
Recent years have seen rising encounters between people and "endangered" grizzly bears, and increasingly with deadly results. Much of this is due to the significant increase in the grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide ecosystems; yet even though grizzly numbers are more than double their recovery goal, administration officials have routinely failed to remove them from the list of endangered species.
The Western wildlife experts testifying before Congress confirmed the recovery of grizzly bears and wolves, and cautioned against transferring control to states where legislators might disregard science-based management plans.
At issue were two congressional bills to remove grizzly bears from the endangered species list in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. A third bill delisted the gray wolves. All three excluded the actions from judicial review. The hearing was livestreamed.
A Wyoming official testified this week that he supported using “whatever means is necessary” to obtain management authority over the Yellowstone area’s federally protected grizzly bears.