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The purpose of this hearing is to examine short and long term solutions to extreme drought in the western United States.

This hearing will commence immediately following the nominations business meeting.

Opening statements:

• Sen. Joe Manchin

Witnesses:

• Camille C. Touton, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior
• John J. Entsminger, General Manager, Southern Nevada Water Authority
• Dr. Maurice Hall, Vice President, Climate Resilient Water Systems, Environmental Defense Fund
• Patrick O’Toole, President, Family Farm Alliance
• Charlie Stern, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy, Congressional Research Service

Hearing page

Chair Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.)

Witnesses:

• Dr. Bradley Colman, President-Elect of the American Meteorological Society; Director of Weather-Strategy, Bayer & The Climate Corporation
• Dr. Kevin R. Petty, VP, Weather and Earth Intelligence, Spire Global, Inc.
• Dr. Fred Carr, Professor Emeritus, School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma
• Dr. Scott Glenn, Board of Governors Professor Center for Ocean Observing Leadership of the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University

On Tuesday, June 14, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. ET, in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building and via Cisco WebEx the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands will hold a hybrid legislative hearing on the following bills:

• H.R. 1548 (Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-PA) To establish a pilot program for native plant species, and for other purposes. Native Plant Species Pilot Program Act of 2021.
• H.R. 4658 (Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA) To designate the Encinal Trailhead on the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area as the “Anthony ‘Tony’ Beilenson Trailhead.” Beilenson Trailhead Designation Act.
• H.R. 6364 (Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-PA) To amend the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Improvement Act to extend the exception to the closure of certain roads within the Recreation Area for local businesses, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 6442 (Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-ID) To amend section 101703 of title 54, United States Code, to include Tribal Governments and quasi-governmental entities, and for other purposes. PACTS Act.
• H.R. 7496 (Rep. Stacey Plaskett, D-VI) To direct the Secretary of the Interior to install a plaque at the peak of Ram Head in the Virgin Islands National Park on St. John, United States Virgin Islands, to commemorate the slave rebellion that began on St. John in 1733.
• H.R. 7615 (Rep. Blake Moore, R-UT) To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into partnerships to develop housing, and for other purposes. LODGE Act.
• H.R. 7693 (Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-AR) To amend title 54, United States Code, to reauthorize the National Park Foundation. National Park Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2022.
• H.R. 7952 (Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-PA) To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to issue a right-of-way permit with respect to a natural gas distribution pipeline within Valley Forge National Historical Park, and for other purposes. Valley Forge Park Realignment Permit and Promise Act.

The purpose of the business meeting is to consider the nominations of:

• Dr. David Applegate to be Director of the United States Geological Survey;
• Ambassador Carmen G. Cantor to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior (Insular and International Affairs); and
• Dr. Evelyn Wang to be Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, Department of Energy.

The meeting will be immediately followed by a hearing to examine short term and long terms solutions to extreme drought in the western United States.

Hearing page

The Committee on Rules will meet on Monday, June 13, 2022 at 2:00 PM EDT in H-313, The Capitol on the following measures:

• H.R. 2543—Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act [Financial Services Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act]
• H.R. 2773—Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2021
• H.R. 7606—Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act of 2022 [Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act]

H.R. 7606 includes language to waive Clean Air Act restrictions on ethanol blending and new support for ethanol and biodiesel.

H.R. 2773, which will fund multi-stakeholder efforts to conserve and monitor at-risk species, known in states as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), is supported by The Wildlife Society.

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing on policies and practices to address wildfires. Billions of dollars are spent fighting wildfires every year, and the cascading economic, health, and societal impacts of wildfires are enormous. Compounding these challenges, wildfires also release greenhouse gases and harmful aerosols into the atmosphere. Over the last century, battling wildfires after they have started has been the main approach to address this threat. Yet, with record-setting fire seasons happening almost every year, more proactive and preventative steps are needed.

Panelists will discuss policies and practices that would allow the United States to reduce the overall risk of wildfires, including how innovations in community-centered wildfire protection can improve resilience for humans and ecosystems.

Speakers

• Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.)
• Carly Phillips, Western States Climate Team Fellow, Union of Concerned Scientists
• Kimiko Barrett, Wildfire Research & Policy Lead, Headwaters Economics
• Margo Robbins, Executive Director, Cultural Fire Management Council
• Steve Bowen, Managing Director and Head of Catastrophe Insight, Aon

A live webcast will be streamed at 01:00 PM EDT.

RSVP

Hearing page

Witnesses:

• Dr. Gopinath “Gopi” Munisamy, Distinguished Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia
• Karla Thompson, Vice President, JET Farms Georgia and Integrity Farms
• Sheryl Meshke, Co-President and CEO, Associated Milk Producers Inc., New Ulm, MN
• Neal Fisher, Administrator, North Dakota Wheat Commission, Mandan, ND

Hearing page

Witnesses:

• Linda Reinstein, President/CEO & Co-Founder, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
• Danny Whu M.D., Chief Medical Officer, International Association of Fire Fighters
• David Lee Boone, General Manager, Copiah Water Association
• Robert J. Simmon, Vice President for Chemical Products & Technology Division, American Chemistry Council

The purpose of the hearing is to examine the President’s budget request for the U.S. Forest Service for Fiscal Year 2023.

Witness:

• Randy Moore, Chief, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

The FY 2023 President’s Budget for the USDA Forest Service discretionary appropriations totals $9 billion, including $2.21 billion for the wildfire suppression cap adjustment (in the Wildfire Suppression Operations Reserve Fund). In addition to discretionary appropriations, the request includes $743 million in mandatory funding for Permanent and Trust funds. To address the wildfire crisis we are facing, the FY 2023 request focuses on risk-based wildland fire management; compensation for wildland firefighters; tackling the climate crisis; improving infrastructure, providing economic relief and supporting jobs; and advancing racial equity. To improve the conditions we are seeing on the ground, it will take use of the best available science; hard work shoulder to shoulder with partners; use of all the tools in our toolbox; and a robust workforce.

Climate change is causing historic droughts in the West and placing water supplies and other natural resources at risk. Carbon sequestration is vital for combating climate change. Forests take up vast quantities of carbon in trees and soils—in fact, forests are America’s largest terrestrial carbon sink. Our forests, plus harvested wood products and urban forests, offset almost 15 percent of the Nation’s total carbon dioxide emissions and almost 12 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. The National Forest System alone stores almost 14 billion metric tons of carbon, or about a quarter of the Nation’s carbon storage in forests. Each year, the National Forest System adds about 31 million metric tons of carbon of net gain.

Many ecosystems nationwide are degrading and losing habitat for our native plants and wildlife. Climate change is altering environmental conditions nationwide. Drought has contributed to outbreaks of insects and disease that have killed tens of millions of acres of forest across the West. Changing environmental conditions have lengthened fire seasons into fire years and worsened wildfires across the West. At the same time our forests are becoming more overgrown and unhealthy. Expanding development into the wildland urban interface puts more homes into fire-prone landscapes. One American home in three is now in the wildland/urban interface, increasing wildfire risk to these communities, because 80-90 percent of all wildfires are human-caused.