Today, Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Gosar and incoming Chairman Newhouse released the following statements after the Western Caucus Executive Committee voted unanimously to elect Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04) Congressional Western Caucus Chairman for the 117th Congress. “The Congressional Western Caucus is the premiere organization advocating for rural policy issues throughout the West and beyond. Chairman Gosar brought our Caucus to new heights, and I want to thank him for his strong leade...
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Today, members of the Western Caucus released the following statements after the U.S. Forest Service announced their final rule to reform their National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementation regulations. “The final rule announced today by the Forest Service is a giant leap forward in protecting communities from catastrophic wildfire. The current NEPA process has become too cumbersome and a barrier to forest management projects that protect our forests and save lives, this rule changes t...
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Today, members of the Western Caucus released the following statements after Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced the delisting of the gray wolf in the lower 48 states. “Today is a great victory for science and professional wildlife management. The gray wolf is one of the few actual success stories of the Endangered Species Act and has met every scientific criteria for delisting. Its delisting will cede control back to where it belongs, state and tribal governments. This is a clea...
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Today, members of the Western Caucus released the following statements after President Trump signed an Executive Order on modernizing America's water resource management and water infrastructure. “Water is a necessity for life and nowhere is that truer than in the West. Water infrastructure powers our homes, ensure farmers have water to irrigate their crops, and ensure our communities of enough to drink. This Executive Order ensures that the expertise is in place to bring our water infrastructur...
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Today, members of the Western Caucus released the following statements after the Department of the Interior announced the final rule to update E-Bike regulations on federal lands. “Recreational access and multiple use are core principles of public lands management in the United States. Today’s announcement by DOI shows this Administrations commitment to these two core principles and will open our public lands to an even greater audience. I thank Secretary Bernhardt and his team for their hard wo...
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Today, members of the Western Caucus released the following statements after President Trump signed an Executive Order on addressing the threat to the domestic supply chain from reliance on critical minerals from foreign adversaries. “The Executive Order signed by President Trump yesterday is a great step in the right direction. The Congressional Western Caucus has been at the forefront of highlighting our unsustainable reliance on foreign adversaries in our critical minerals supply chain and th...
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Today, members of the Western Caucus released the following statements after the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) announced the completion of the Presidential Memorandum on Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West. “As I often say, whisky is for drinking and water is for fighting. I applaud the Trump Administration for their work on prioritizing western water issues for the communities and businesses I represent. There are many opportunities to ease excessive federal...
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Today, members of the Western Caucus released the following statements after House Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry held a hearing on wildfires effecting the Western United States. “Today's hearing is long overdue. The West has been devastated by wildfires this fire season and Congress has sat on its hands and done nothing. Just this year, over 700,000 acres have burned in my home state, including the 193,000 acre Bush Fire in my district. There are numerous legisl...
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Today, members of the Western Caucus released the following statements after the Environmental Protection Agency announced their final rule on regulatory guidance transparency. “Today’s announcement by EPA is another example of this Administration putting transparency at the forefront of their decision making. The American people deserve to know the exact science that goes behind regulatory decisions and this new rule will make that possible. I thank Administrator Wheeler for his hard work and h...
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Today, members of the Western Caucus released the following statements after EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the creation of the Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains to be located in Lakewood, Colorado. “Today is an important day for the future of the West as EPA is finally recognizing the important regional and geographical challenges we face. For too long, the EPA has ignored the priorities of Western States, the creation of the Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains within th...
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