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Glassing the Hill: October 19 – 23
The TRCP’s scouting report on sportsmen’s issues in Congress.
The Senate will be in session Monday through Friday. The House will begin legislative business on Tuesday.
House members return to D.C. after last week’s recess to find the chamber in the same state they left it—yep, that would be chaotic. Potential Republican candidates for Speaker are holding their breath as they wait for Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) to decide if he should throw his hat into the ring. The latest intel from Capitol Hill indicates that if Ryan does run, he will do so only with the unanimous support of the Republican caucus, something he is unlikely to achieve. Should Ryan decline to run, it would kick off a free-for-all fight for the Speaker’s gavel, with no obvious leader emerging.
In the meantime, Congress is facing expiration of the Highway Trust Fund (October 29), the debt limit (November 3), and the short-term funding agreement keeping the government afloat (December 11). Speaker Boehner, with an apparently willing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, seems poised to attempt to address these issues in the remaining days at the helm of the House, which will consider three piece of legislation on the floor this week, including Rep. McClintock’s (R-CA) H.R. 692 bill to prevents a default in the debt limit.
Shifting to legislation that has already been allowed to expire: The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) may be in limbo, but it continues to influence major policy issues. Senator Hoeven (R-ND) has proposed connecting the reauthorization and full funding of LWCF with the lifting of the crude oil export ban, while Senators Burr (R-NC) and Ayotte (R-NH) have placed a hold on Senate consideration of the TOSCA reform bill in an attempt to get a floor vote on an LWCF reauthorization amendment. At least it’ll be worth watching the Hill between now and Thanksgiving.
What We’re Tracking:
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Nominations for key decision-making positions in DOI and energy, to be discussed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
EPA regulations, in a Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight hearing
Opportunities for Good Samaritan mine cleanups, to be considered in a House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment hearing. Learn about the existing red tape for well-meaning groups that would like to take on mine cleanups, here.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Gulf Coast red snapper management, to be discussed in a House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans hearing regarding H.R. 3094
Ozone standards, in a House Science, Space and Technology hearing
Wastewater treatment, in a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy hearing regarding Senator Roger’s (R-MS) S. 611
Meet our next #PublicLandsProud contest judge: Brian Grossenbacher
Brian Grossenbacher is a Bozeman, Montana fishing guide and professional photographer whose work has appeared in Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, and Saltwater Sportsman. He also shoots commercial campaigns for Orvis, Simms, Mossy Oak, Shimano, and Costa. Basically everything that you love to wear while you’re in the field, he’s the guy behind the camera making it look good, and everywhere you’ve ever dreamed of going to hunt or fish, Brian’s been there on assignment. I managed to catch him between a grouse hunt in the Yaak Valley and a shoot in Mexico to talk about the importance of public lands.
TRCP: So, Brian, what makes you #publiclandsproud?
BG: You know, I just came back from a shoot in northwest Montana, where we never stepped off public lands in three days. It was amazing! We hunted blue grouse, spruce grouse, and ruffed grouse on the most beautiful remote terrain, and our toughest decision each day was ‘Do we turn right or left?’ That kind of access makes you feel like you’re in Alaska. I truly believe that improving access to public lands, and promoting the resources that we have, will only encourage communities to fight to maintain that habitat for generations to come.
It’s worth adding that a lot of my photography work is done on public lands, so I owe a huge debt to having access to beautiful places that make hunting and fishing possible.
TRCP: Have you always had a connection to public lands?
BG: Well, it used to be my living—for 18 years I was a flyfishing guide and I spent 90 percent of my time guiding on public waters. The Yellowstone, Madison, Jefferson, and Upper Missouri became my office. And I once worked as an events coordinator for Bridger Bowl, a non-profit ski area that’s entirely on National Forest land. It’s a pretty unique place and a true collaboration between the Forest Service and local community that has thrived for more than 70 years.
TRCP: What will you be looking for in a winning photo?
BG: Of course, lighting is key, composition is important, but photography should pull the viewer in to experience the scene, just the way that the subject of the photo is. I find that the best photos I’ve taken come from being able to disappear into the background on a shoot. The more a subject forgets that I’m there, the more their humor comes out or they’re better able to concentrate on the task at hand and more genuine moments emerge. In an upland hunting situation, things happen very quickly, so a photographer has to have 100 percent of his senses in the next moment. I’d just recommend that you never rest. Never set the camera down. The moments I capture after the hunt, in little local bars, or after the fish is landed, tend to be just as interesting.
Show us your #PublicLandsProud moment and you could be featured on our blog, or win a new pair of Costa sunglasses.
Winner alert! Capturing a scene that makes us #PublicLandsProud
Thanks again to everyone out there using the hashtag and transporting us to all the gorgeous places you’ve experienced on public lands for the latest round of our contest devoted to photos of beautiful scenery. Our guest judge Johnny LeCoq, founder of Fishpond and a pretty awesome photographer himself, considered all your shots of craggy landscapes and scenic vistas and selected a winner who will receive a brand new pair of Costa sunglasses—all the better to see with, as he frames up his next shot—and a Fishpond Summit Sling pack where he can stash photography AND fishing gear. Not too shabby.
And the winner is…
Eric Fisher (yep, that’s his real name) from Washington, D.C. with his “waterscape” image of Kokanee salmon swimming up Taylor Creek near Lake Tahoe, California! Fisher is an amateur photographer who grew up hunting, fishing, and camping, and says he’s never without his camera (or a fly rod.) He hopes to capture his enthusiasm for the outdoors and all of the beauty nature has to offer through his photos. Well, our judge was captivated by this shot, which proves that an unconventional angle can really change the scene. Way to go, Eric!
Glassing The Hill: October 13-16
The TRCP’s scouting report on sportsmen’s issues in Congress.
The Senate and House are not in session this week.
The week off marks an uncomfortable interlude. Last week ended with turmoil in the House of Representatives when Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) withdrew from the Speaker of the House candidacy pool. As a result, Speaker Boehner has indicated he will now stay on until a replacement has been found. Until then, it’s back to the drawing board for GOP members, since Congressmen Paul Ryan and Trey Gowdy continue to refuse the promotion, despite their party’s encouragement. Rep. Ryan, in particular, is under intense pressure to reconsider his decision and run for the speakership.
The turmoil in the House significantly complicates efforts from Senate Majority Leader McConnell and the President to reach a budget deal that would set funding levels through 2016, maintain the solvency of the highway trust fund, and raise the debt ceiling before November 5. With Boehner’s lame-duck status and no agreed-upon successor, it is unclear whether or not Boehner can corral his restive caucus into supporting a budget deal in the time remaining. It certainly looks like McCarthy’s withdrawal from the Speaker’s race slightly increases the odds of a government shutdown when the current CR expires on December 11.
Let’s hope everyone’s brainstorming budget solutions (preferable ones that include reauthorization of LWCF and a healthy investment in conservation) back home in their districts.
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