Articles

In South Dakota, we are blessed with water resources for drinking, boating, fishing and farming. In a drought year like this one, we’re reminded of just how critical water is, but we’re also not too far removed from having seen its destructive power. Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Reps. Kristi Noem, Rick Berg (R-ND) and Denny Rehberg (R-MT) today sent a letter to U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica and Ranking Member Nick Rahall requesting a federal hearing to review the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to charge fees for stored water in the Missouri River upper basin state reservoirs. Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Reps. Rick Berg, Kristi Noem (R – SD) and Denny Rehberg (R-MT) today sent a letter to U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica and Ranking Member Nick Rahall requesting a federal hearing to review the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to charge fees for stored water in the Missouri River upper basin state reservoirs. Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following a July 27th request from Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3), this week the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) agreed to implement changes to improve transparency in their operating procedures. The improvements include an agreement to broadcast the Commission’s quarterly meetings live over the internet starting in February 2013, as well as a commitment to increase the use of roll call votes during ASMFC deliberations. Read more »

BISMARCK, N.D. – Congressman Rick Berg today submitted testimony to the Army Corps of Engineers, who is holding public hearings in Bismarck tonight regarding their draft surplus water reports, which includes a proposal to charge a storage fee for access to water stored in Missouri River reservoirs. Read more »

COLO. – Congressmen Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Scott Tipton (R-CO) have asked U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to extend the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres for haying and livestock grazing through November. Read more »

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has announced that payments totaling $308 million will be provided to states under the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program between now and the end of 2012. On June 29, 2012, Congress passed a one-year reauthorization of the SRS program (H.R. 4348), which was signed into law on July 2, 2012. Read more »

On Thursday Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and running mate U.S. Representative Paul Ryan released their comprehensive energy proposal aimed at the goal of American energy independence by 2020. The ambitious plan involves returning authority for energy production back to the states, opening offshore oil production, developing a North American Energy Partnership and… Read more »

Washington, DC – Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) released the following statement in support of the U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). Read more »

WICHITA, KS – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued its ruling on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cross State Air Pollution Rule. In the ruling, the majority held that the EPA’s rule violated the existing statute and overstepped the rules laid out by the U.S. Congress. Read more »