Local Issues
More on Local Issues
December 9, 2020
Speeches
Every American needs to see Angela Marsden’s tearful video as she pours out her frustrations as a small restaurant owner in Los Angeles. Forced to drastically curtail her business during California’s brutal shutdowns, she took out an $80,000 loan to meet all the expensive requirements to move her dining outside and salvage what was left of her life’s work. Instead, authorities arbitrarily changed the rules, and shut her down again – a death sentence for her ten-year-old restaurant. Yet the same authorities permitted a film production company to offer the very same outdoor dining across the very same parking lot the day she had to close her business.
September 23, 2020
Speeches
Last week, President Trump came to California to be briefed on the horrific fires now raging in California. Instead, he got a lecture from Governor Newsom and his staff on climate change.
August 25, 2020
Speeches
It was great to be a part of the 24th annual Lake Tahoe Summit held on August 25th, 2020. A resilient Tahoe requires resilient forests – and resilient forests require active scientific management.
Four years ago, a bi-partisan effort achieved an important milestone toward that goal. We got a categorical exclusion from the National Environmental Policy act that streamlines forest management projects here in the Basin for fuel reduction.
October 9, 2019
Press Release
I realize that PG&E is caught in a Hobson’s choice, but I do not support its decision for preventative power cut-offs due to high winds. They are balancing the possibility of a wildfire ignition due to wind damage against the certainty of deliberately causing millions of dollars of damage to their customers and creating major public safety hazards...
March 12, 2019
Speeches
For many years, our nations’ water policy was one of abundance and our nation’s lands policy was one of sustainable, scientific management. These policies served the betterment of both humanity and nature.
February 26, 2019
Vote Notes on Legislation
This is a massive document encompassing 147 individual bills, including mine on establishing a permanent fund for medical clinics in our National Parks. It reduces total federal land ownership at a time we can’t take care of the land we currently hold, shares considerably more LWCF money with states which have proven better land stewards, and relaxes public use restrictions on 168,000 acres of federal land. I am greatly concerned about adding 1.3 million acres of federal land to wilderness designation which greatly restricts public access, but more than half of this amount is in exchange for opening up other federal lands to greater recreation and economic development and has the support of the local governments most directly affected. I am also concerned over permanent reauthorization of the LWCF without reforming it to assure that maintenance needs are met before we acquire new lands. However, it does provide for 40 percent revenue sharing with state governments.
January 9, 2019
Press Release
The President is absolutely correct that poor forest management has condemned our forests to morbid overcrowding and ultimately catastrophic wildfire. However, the principal blame for California’s wildfires lies with federal agencies and laws which govern most of our state’s forests and brushlands. Laws like the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, which have made scientific forest management endlessly time consuming and ultimately cost prohibitive...
January 7, 2019
Press Release
Congressman Tom McClintock today praised the decision of Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to release Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act funds for garbage collection, restroom servicing and other emergency maintenance at national parks during the government shutdown.
January 4, 2019
Press Release
Rep. Tom McClintock today sent a letter regarding maintenance of parks during the shutdown to Acting Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. The letter is attached:
(click for pdf)
January 4, 2019
The Honorable David Bernhardt
Acting Secretary of the Interior
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street Northwest
Washington, D.C. 20240
Dear Acting Secretary Bernhardt:
September 6, 2018
Speeches
When we talk of PILT funding, we should never lose sight of the fact that it is a very, very poor substitute for revenues generated locally by healthy economic activity and federal revenue sharing. Our ultimate objective should be not to institutionalize PILT, but to restore active management of our federal lands and a healthy balance between federal land ownership and productive private ownership of the lands within each county in the nation.