On June 13th, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources held a full committee markup and unanimously advanced the Lodging Options Developed for Government Employees (LODGE) Act (H.R. 1314), an RCRC supported bill, which expands the authority of the Department of the Interior (DOI) to enter into public-private partnerships to address housing shortages near national parks.  RCRC’s letter of support may be viewed here. Please contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate Staci Heaton with any questions. 

Six other bills, which aim to prevent catastrophic wildfires and restore power to local communities, were also reported out favorably, for consideration by the full House. Below is a list of all seven (7) bills advanced by the House Natural Resources Committee: 

  •  H.R. 188, the Proven Forest Management Act of 2022, introduced by U.S. Representative Tom McClintock (R-California), which makes an existing 10,000-acre categorical exclusion only available in the Tahoe Basin available throughout the entire National Forest System and on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. 

  • H.R. 1240, the Winnebago Land Transfer Act of 2023, introduced by U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), which takes specified lands in Iowa into trust for the benefit of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. 

  • H.R. 1314, the LODGE Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), which expands the authority of the Department of the Interior (DOI) to enter into public-private partnerships to address housing shortages near national parks. 

  • H.R. 1450, the Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act, introduced by U.S. Representative Russ Fulcher (R- Idaho), which revises the Good Neighbor Authority to modify the treatment of revenue from timber sale contracts for tribes and counties under good neighbor agreements with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the DOI. 

  • H.R. 3371, the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act, introduced by U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota), which places approximately 40 acres of fee land located within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation into restricted fee status for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to be held in memorial as a sacred site for those killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. 

  • H.R. 3389, the Emergency Wildfire Fighting Technology Act of 2023, introduced by U.S. Representative David Valadao (R-California), which requires USDA and DOI to conduct an evaluation of the Containerized Aerial Fire Fighting System to mitigate and suppress wildfires. 

  • H.R. 3562, the Forest Service Flexible Housing Partnerships Act of 2023, introduced by U.S. Representative Joe Neguse (D- Colorado), which reauthorizes Forest Service flexible partnerships to create more affordable housing.