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.
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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.