Doug Lamborn Questions Deb Haaland About 'The most Egregious Land Lockup'

4 months ago

At a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) questioned Sec. Deb Haaland about

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00:00Colorado, Mr. Lamborn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Madam Secretary. It's good to have you back. I

00:04remember when we served together on this committee, so welcome. The National Park Service is a great

00:10asset to our nation. In 2023, NPS recorded 325 million visits at more than 400 federal sites.

00:19With the fact that these parks are the jewels of America, and I've been to over 300 of them

00:25myself, I must continue to ask about the quality of guest visits. Many of our concessionaires

00:32stand ready and waiting to take up the slack. Our concessionaires are constantly judged,

00:39however, on some unknown and ambiguous criteria. And while the commercial visitor services

00:46concession contracts rule went into effect earlier this year, I still find some concern at

00:53the amount of transparency. Will you commit to a more transparent process

00:58for the concessionaire contracting process? Thank you so much for the question. And of course,

01:06we always love to be more transparent. I'll take a look at this when I get back to the office and

01:10see how that is going forward. But we rely on our concessionaires. Very good, thank you. Has

01:16NPS considered looking to the concession industry to support immediate capital investment needs?

01:24I couldn't answer that, but I would get with Chuck Sams and find out and make sure we got back with

01:30your office. Okay, thank you. Because I would like to explore how NPS can allow for increased

01:37capital investment from willing concession industry members under existing contracts to improve the

01:44park guest experiences. So I think with some creativity, flexibility, and willingness to work

01:50together, we could make some really good gains there. I appreciate that. Now, changing subjects.

01:57Since the Biden administration took office, three and a half million acres of working federal lands

02:01have been locked up through antiquities designations, resource management plans with

02:07mineral withdrawals, etc. The most egregious land lockup is administration's land conservation

02:14and health rule, which will allow so-called mitigation and restoration leases to lock up

02:20tens of thousands of acres per lease across the country. Now, your agency states that the

02:26authority to implement this rule comes from 43 CFR part 2920. However, section 2920.1

02:35clearly states that the only authorized uses for leases under this section are for residential,

02:40agricultural, industrial, and commercial uses. There's no mention of mitigation and restoration.

02:48Do you really think that this rule will stand up to legal challenge in court?

02:53Congressman, thank you for the question. And I do want to say that with this rule, we engaged in a

02:59robust and transparent public process. Many people had opportunities to weigh in, including

03:05our hunters, anglers, outdoor recreation enthusiasts. This rule will not

03:15inhibit any current grazing leases or anything like that. And I want you to know that everybody

03:25thought about so many of these things when they were working through the rule, and I feel confident

03:30that we have done it in the right way. Well, it's my belief, though, that whether or not it

03:37breaks existing leases, it expands the definition of leases to unintended areas that Congress never

03:43authorized. And that's why we're doing a CRA on this issue like this week. And we're

03:49going to send it over to the Senate, and hopefully they can repeal this rule.

03:55In Colorado, and let me ask you about another subject.

04:01In the first three years under your control, the department has held one lease sale in Colorado,

04:07leasing a single 290-acre parcel, bringing in $1.2 million in revenue to state and federal

04:15governments. And it looks like BLM has one scheduled upcoming lease sale in Colorado for

04:23a mere 120 acres. This lease sale, along with the only other lease sale that I just mentioned,

04:31shows neglect of the western slope of Colorado. Will you commit to holding more lease sales on

04:37the western slope of Colorado this year? Congressman, I do want to just say, because I

04:43haven't said it yet, that production on public lands is at an all-time high. And so we have been

04:50doing our jobs. Onshore, in the last two years, the BLM has sold the drilling rights to more than

04:55230,000 acres onshore. But what about, excuse me for interrupting, what about in Colorado?

05:00There's only been one lease sale. Oh, I beg your pardon. In Colorado,

05:06specifically, we are moving forward with what we are required to do. And I'm happy to get back

05:16with you on any specific areas in Colorado, if that is what you would prefer. Okay, we'll look

05:22forward to that. Thank you, and I yield back. Thank you. When this time has expired, the chair

05:26now recognizes the gentlelady from New Mexico, Ms. Stansbury.

Doug Lamborn Questions Deb Haaland About 'The most Egregious Land Lockup'

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