(NewsInsights.org) – Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) chairs the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee. On April 30, he held the first day of an oversight hearing entitled “Examining the Influence of Extreme Environmental Activist Groups in the Department of the Interior.”
During his opening remarks, the lawmaker provided two examples of the Interior Department (DOI) instigating informal rulemaking changes to policies after consultation with NGOs. Those changes resulted in the withdrawal of lands and resources, making them unavailable to commercial developers.
In the first example, Gosar mentioned the Pueblo Action Alliance (PAA). He noted that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland had worked closely with PAA before her cabinet appointment and has maintained her relationship with the organization, adding that Haaland’s daughter continues to work for the agency.
He claimed the PAA “repeatedly advocated” for withdrawing additional lands in the Chaco Canyon from natural resource development. In 2022, Haaland issued a public land order that officially withdrew more than 330,000 acres in a 110-mile radius surrounding Chaco Canyon National Historic Park from development for 20 years. Gosar argued that Haaland should have recused herself from making that decision.
The lawmaker’s second example pointed to the Wilderness Society’s 2020 lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Services, and the Forest Service over a 2018 reinstatement of mineral leases. The permits allowed Twin Metals Minnesota, LLC, to resume hard rock mining in northeast Minnesota. The Wilderness Society claimed the federal government failed to follow the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act by reissuing the permits.
Gosar claimed that while the parties pursued litigation, Interior Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau and Kate Kelly, the DOI deputy chief of staff, allegedly met with Wilderness Society representatives in an “off the books” meeting. The Arizona lawmaker noted that the Wilderness Society’s counsel also consulted with DOI attorneys regarding legal issues surrounding their suit around the same time.
In 2022, Haaland revoked the Twin Metals mining leases. She also withdrew over 225,000 acres in northeast Minnesota in the disputed area from resource development, enjoining mining, exploration, or economic development of mineral resources there.
Gosar questioned the “undue influence” NGOs exerted on DOI policies. He also suggested that radical organizations and foreign governments, including China, were controlling or influencing similar organizations.
None of the NGOs Gosar mentioned had representatives at the hearing to testify. The chair scheduled Haaland’s testimony before the committee for early May.
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