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On Wednesday, U.S. Representative Lummis (R-Wyo.) supported passage through the House Natural Resources Committee of a trio of bills aimed at solving Wyoming problems. HR 2728,the Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act, would prevent the Obama Administration from imposing duplicative regulations on hydraulic fracturing in Wyoming.  HR 1526, the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act, would expedite the treatment of at-risk Wyoming forests and provide a deficit-friendly source of revenue to timber-dependent Wyoming counties. HR 1684,the Ranch A Consolidation and Management Improvement Act, would remove federal restrictions on Wyoming’s ability to manage the historic Ranch A in Beulah, Wyoming.  All three bills are now ready for consideration on the floor of the House of Representatives.

“The House Natural Resources Committee has once again proven itself to be one of the most productive and solution-oriented committees in an otherwise dysfunctional Congress,” said Lummis. “We are acting to protect Wyoming’s energy producers from the Obama Administration’s costly and unnecessary hydraulic fracturing regulations by passing H.R. 2728. Wyoming has the expertise and incentive to regulate the practice, we do so effectively, and most importantly we have the right as a State to assume this responsibility instead of relying on a top-down Washington approach driven by scare tactics. We also acted to put federal forest policy back on track, instead of the status quo where wildfire prevention is neglected at the enormous cost of wildfire suppression, not to mention the economic and human costs borne by the families and communities affected by these disasters. H.R. 1526 also creates jobs in the forest products industry and creates a stable revenue source for timber counties without relying on tax dollars that our country simply does not have.”

H.R. 2728, approved by a bipartisan vote of 23-15, would prohibit the Department of the Interior from enforcing its proposed hydraulic fracturing regulations in states like Wyoming that already regulate the practice effectively.  Despite admitting that there has not been a single documented case of groundwater contamination due to hydraulic fracturing, Interior officials are nonetheless moving forward to impose an extra layer of costly red tape on the nation’s energy producers.

H.R. 1526, approved by voice vote, would recommit the federal government to the proactive forest management that is critical to preventing devastating wildfires and threats like the bark beetle epidemic.  The legislation takes a bottom-up approach to hazardous fuels reduction by streamlining projects in areas proposed by State governors and expanding the role of state foresters by giving them “Good Neighbor” authority in areas where state forests adjoin federal forests.  It also provides a stable revenue stream for timber-dependent counties by requiring the Forest Service to produce at least half of the sustainable annual yield of timber on federal lands and share 25 percent of those receipts with rural counties. 

Finally, H.R. 1684, written and introduced by Rep. Lummis and approved by voice vote, consolidates the state-owned Ranch A and provides flexibility to the Ranch A Restoration Foundation that manages the property for the State of Wyoming.  The legislation would consolidate Ranch A by conveying to the State of Wyoming an additional ten acres of Forest Service land that contain the Babcock House, which is already managed and maintained by the Foundation as part of Ranch A.  In addition, the measure would lift federal restrictions on the use of Ranch A that currently prevents the Foundation from raising additional revenue for maintenance and improvements.  Ranch A was originally deeded to the State of Wyoming by federal legislation in 1996.  However, the legislation only granted a right-of-way for use of the Babcock House and restricted use of the property to educational purposes only.