Steve Daines Asks Energy Nom If She Will Reconsider ‘Overreaching’ Public Lands Conservation Rule

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During a Senate Energy Committee hearing last week, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) questioned Leslie Beyer, nominee to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Lands and Minerals Management, about the Biden Administration’s implementation of the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Chairman, Ms. Beyer, the BLM's core principle is multiple use. That's

00:06congressionally mandated in the Federal Land Management and Policy Act.

00:11However, under the Biden administration, the Bureau of Land Management implemented

00:17the so-called conservation and landscape health rule that subverted the agency's

00:23multiple-use management of public lands. At that time I heard a lot from my

00:29ranchers. I expressed deep concerns with this rule, especially as it pertained to

00:35the impacts on livestock grazing on public lands. Livestock operations are part of

00:42our Montana way of life, and cattle and sheep grazing on public lands provides

00:47benefits by mitigating the risk of wildfire, suppressing invasive grasses,

00:53improving wildlife habitat, while economically supporting a rural

00:59communities who are struggling across our state. Will you commit to reconsidering

01:04this overreaching rule that harms multiple use, destroys transparency and public

01:11input around land use decisions? Senator, thank you for the question. I know that has

01:19been an extraordinary issue in your state, and I have followed that. And if I'm

01:24confirmed, I absolutely will follow the law, the multiple use mandate, and the contours

01:30of FLIPMA that provide that. Thank you. Earlier this month we were very

01:37pleased that President Trump announced a number of executive orders to support

01:42coal in Montana. My generational roots go back five in Montana. I know in many watch

01:49shows like Yellowstone or they see Brad Pitt with a fly rod in his hand. You think it's

01:55only about fly fishing, and as a lifelong fly fisherman I couldn't agree more, but we

02:01also have more recoverable coal than any state in the United States. It's one of the

02:07understated fact and something many don't know. So these EOs to support us in

02:14Montana with coal included rolling back the Miles City Resource Management Plan

02:19amendment prohibiting new coal development in eastern Montana. I'm grateful that

02:26Secretary Burgum likewise took steps to support energy development on our federal

02:32lands. I truly believe that BLM can balance coal, oil, gas, renewable energy

02:41development, while also supporting conservation, recreation, and grazing

02:47resource. That really is the mandate from Congress. My question is do you

02:51support the actions by the President and the Secretary to roll back these

02:57anti-energy rules like the Miles City RMP and the unreachable bonding rates and

03:05return the BLM to its true multiple-use mandate? Senator, thank you. I think

03:13President Trump and Secretary Burgum have laid out a very bold vision for

03:19developing more American energy resources and coal has a very important role in

03:25that. I believe in American innovation around reducing emissions and how

03:31effectively we can produce energy around coal and so absolutely sir I commit to

03:39working with you on that and following direction of the President and the

03:42Secretary. You know it ought to be a warning shout we saw happen in Spain and

03:48Portugal this past week about what happens when ideology and nonsense drives

03:54energy policy and where we get energy in terms of the balance between

03:59intermittent source of energy and baseload power and I'm grateful with this

04:04administration baseload power is cool again thank God. Dr. Travnik, the Bureau

04:10of Reclamation is currently working quickly to address the catastrophic failure

04:14of two siphons from the St. Mary River that are a critical part of the Milk River

04:20project that provides water to irrigators on Montana's High Line. I don't expect you to

04:26be an expert on this but I want to raise your awareness here because you will be

04:30confirmed and you will be serving I'm grateful for that. Additionally I'm working

04:35to finish Montana's last tribal water compact. I've been working on tribal water

04:41compacts for much my time back here in Congress these are sometimes go over a

04:45century back to back to certainly treaties and getting these resolved on behalf of

04:51the irrigators and the tribe is one of our highest priorities. We're down to one left

04:54in Montana and that's for the Fort Belknap Indian community we're making great

04:58progress on that we're very close. This will improve infrastructure economic

05:03development for both our tribal and our non-tribal water users. My question, will

05:08you work with me to ensure the continued success of these federal water projects so

05:14that farmers, ranchers, tribes, municipal users will have certainty over their water

05:20rights and their usage. Senator, thank you for the overview of both of those

05:25important concerns that you have in trying to move those projects forward. I'm

05:29committed to working with you on those. Thank you and that St. Mary's project by

05:32the way many when you see beautiful movies and pictures of Montana see a lot of

05:37water. That's true we actually are a semi-arid climate in Montana. It's pretty dry in

05:42particular St. Mary's is at. It's a very arid part of our state and literally it's

05:46an artery, a lifeline of water that has been tragically interrupted because of an

05:52infrastructure failure and it's times of the essence to get this complete this

05:55week in support of irrigators this year. I'm coming out of time Mr. Chairman. Thank

06:00you. Senator Hickenlooper.

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