U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY) called into the Weekday Wake-Up for her monthly report on Thursday, June 18. Rep. Hageman discussed a recent D.C. visit made by Cokeville students, Cokeville graduate Evan Dietz who is currently serving on her staff as an intern, the Roadless Rule and President Trump’s investment into the coal industry.

(0:00) Morning Star Valley, Kemmerer and Bridger Valley, thanks for starting your day with (0:04) the weekday wake up on the SVI Radio Network. (0:08) It is 8.31 this morning on SVI Radio, Swift 98 and The Spur. (0:14) Time to touch base with U.S. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman for her monthly report.

(0:18) And Representative Hageman, good morning, thanks for your time today. (0:23) Good morning, and it’s great, it’s always great to be with the folks in Western Wyoming. (0:27) Absolutely, appreciate it.

(0:28) And speaking of folks in Western Wyoming, you had a handful visit you and the rest of (0:34) the Wyoming delegation on the steps of the Capitol Building recently, some students from (0:39) Cokeville High School and some residents from Cokeville. (0:42) Yes, it was really quite nice. (0:44) You know, I can’t even remember, but I think about a year ago or so, it’s in the last year, (0:49) I had the opportunity to go to the Cokeville High School and we had an assembly and I basically (0:54) just talked about what it is being a congressman and, you know, the work that I’m doing and (0:59) then I took some questions from some of the students, so it was fun to see some of them (1:04) have the opportunity to visit Washington, D.C. (1:06) Absolutely, and speaking of students from Cokeville, a recent graduate, Evan Dietz, (1:11) I understand he’s been an intern on your staff this year.

(1:14) He is an intern on my staff and it’s always wonderful to have young people from Wyoming (1:19) and I’ve had several. (1:20) It seems like it’s kind of difficult to get the folks from Wyoming back there to do these (1:25) internships, so I’m constantly talking about it whenever I can, but yes, he has joined (1:30) me for the summer and his parents and his sister were a part of that group that came (1:36) out with Cokeville a week or so ago. (1:39) Excellent, so what does an intern do? (1:40) Maybe tell us more about what Evan and the other interns do on your staff.

(1:45) Well, one of the things I got to do is we sat down and they asked me a lot of questions (1:49) about what I do, how I do it, you know, just what my interest is, why I chose the different (1:55) things, these different pieces of legislation. (1:57) They answer the phone. (1:59) They help to make arrangements, so if we’re going to be having meetings in various places (2:03) around the capital, they will help with that.

(2:06) They help with logistics. (2:07) I hope that they have an opportunity to go to a variety of things. (2:11) As you can imagine, the internship program in Washington, D.C. is quite very well developed (2:17) with an opportunity for these young people to engage and see the sights and really experience (2:23) Washington, D.C., so I think they get to do all of those things, and you know, it’s funny.

(2:28) Cokeville is not a big town, but I’ve had a couple of my interns from there as well, (2:35) and you know, they’re just such great people. (2:37) Excellent. (2:38) Well, Representative, let’s talk about some of the issues.

(2:40) Since you and I last talked, of course, President Trump announced a $700 million investment in (2:46) the coal industry, obviously something you’ve supported. (2:49) What kind of impact do you think this could have on energy production in Wyoming and across (2:53) the nation? (2:54) So, it’s going to be huge, and for a couple of reasons specific to Wyoming. (2:58) As you know, Wyoming is the largest coal producer in the nation, yet because of the war on coal (3:03) with both Obama and Biden, we have not had a new coal lease since 2014.

(3:08) It’s been 12 years. (3:09) I recently had a hearing in water, wildlife, and fishery, and we had a gentleman come and (3:15) testify from Wyoming, and he says in terms of the least coal that is available for mining, (3:20) we are going to run out in 2030. (3:22) Well, here’s the problem with that, and that is that it takes five to eight years or so (3:26) to get permits for additional mining, and we are seriously behind the eight ball here (3:32) when it comes to being able to produce what we need and use in this country.

(3:37) So, this will hopefully kickstart a lot of things. (3:40) One of the other things I’ve done is I have introduced a bill to reform the coal bidding (3:45) process to hopefully try to bring a bit more transparency to it, but more importantly, (3:49) to give some financial relief to our coal companies so that they can move forward more (3:54) expeditiously with the permitting. (3:57) And then the Speed Act also would help us in this industry.

(4:01) So, and then another thing, you talked about the $700 million. (4:04) The president also gave $75 million to an Oakland port that they are getting ready to (4:10) open, and I’ve had many meetings with them. (4:12) I know the folks in Wyoming have as well our leadership.

(4:15) They’re going to be able to haul 12.5 million tons of Wyoming coal out the Pacific Coast, (4:21) which is very exciting. (4:22) It’s not enough. (4:24) We need more port access.

(4:25) We need to really kind of double down and fight that battle, but it’s a start, and it (4:31) definitely helps our companies. (4:32) Representative, I know that you recently hosted some state representatives in D.C., and coal (4:38) was one of the big topics, and I can’t remember if it was before or after this announcement (4:43) was made, but what were some of the conversations that were had in D.C. with some of the state (4:50) representatives that may be coming back to Wyoming? (4:53) You know, that was actually a wonderful surprise. (4:56) I wasn’t aware that I was going to have the time to be able to meet with them.

(5:01) I didn’t meet with everybody who came back, but I did meet with, I guess there were probably (5:05) seven in my office at the time, and a whole variety of issues, everything that, in Wyoming, (5:11) the federal government has such a heavy footprint because of the surface estate, 48 percent (5:16) and 65 percent of our mineral estate. (5:19) So talking a lot about the relationship between myself, the legislators, the governor’s office, (5:25) what can we do to perhaps be more effective on the various issues that touch both the (5:31) state and the federal government? (5:35) You know, what do we do with permitting? (5:36) What do we do? (5:37) Where is the Speed Act? (5:39) What are we going to do to be able to get more coal permitted? (5:42) What’s going on with some of the court cases, such as the judges that keep trying to shut (5:46) down our oil and gas industry in Converse County? (5:49) So it was really kind of a free-flowing discussion, some of it more state-focused, and other (5:56) aspects of it being more the federal-state interaction. (5:59) U.S. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman with us this morning on the Weekday Wake-Up.

(6:03) Switching gears a little here as we head into the wildfire season, of course, very (6:06) dry in Wyoming and around the Rocky Mountain area. (6:09) The roadless rule, something that you spoke against previously on this program and also (6:14) in D.C. (6:16) Remind our listeners what the roadless rule is and what would you like to see happen? (6:21) So the roadless rule was adopted. (6:23) It was one of the very last things Bill Clinton did before he left office in 2001.

(6:27) It violated DEPA, the Wilderness Act, the Wyoming Wilderness Act, Forest Management (6:34) Act, all kinds of federal laws. (6:36) And it was designed to deny access, management, and use of 58.5 million acres of National (6:42) Forest Service lands, or a full one-third of our National Forest Service lands, primarily (6:46) in the interior west. (6:48) We have 9 million acres of National Forest Service lands in Wyoming, and it affected (6:52) it really essentially shut off access to 3.2 million acres.

(6:56) At the time, the state of Wyoming hired me, my law firm, to file a lawsuit against it, (7:01) and we were able to obtain a nationwide injunction against the rule. (7:06) When that went up on appeal, our governor at the time did not defend that decision. (7:10) And so here we are 25 years later, and everything that I said was going to happen has in fact (7:15) happened.

(7:16) Nine of the 10 most catastrophic forest fires in the National Forest Service lands have (7:21) happened since the roadless rule was adopted. (7:24) Everybody knows the insect infestation that we have been suffering through for the last (7:29) 25 years. (7:30) That largely started from and emanated out of a blowdown that occurred in Route National (7:34) Park, or excuse me, Route National Forest in a roadless area in 1997, where it fell (7:40) 13,000 acres of trees in one night, and then the insects moved in, and now the rest is (7:46) history.

(7:46) Because of the roadless rule, the Forest Service has not been able to go in and manage (7:51) those. (7:51) It’s interesting to me, a lot of the comments opposing the roadless rule actually came (7:55) from Forest Service employees because they knew what was going to happen, and they absolutely (7:59) begged the superiors in D.C. saying, please don’t do this to us. (8:03) It’s going to make it impossible to manage these resources.

(8:07) And I’ll never forget the woman who was arguing the case for the Department of Justice (8:10) out of D.C. (8:11) I was talking about how devastating this was going to be, and she said, we agree that this (8:16) rule is going to be ecologically devastating to certain areas. (8:19) But it is still more important to have one rule coming out of D.C. to deal with roadless (8:25) areas than to deal with isolated situations. (8:28) Well, the Bighorn Forest two years ago burned, in one area, that fire burned 25,000 acres (8:34) in three hours.

(8:36) I want that to sink in. (8:38) Twenty-five thousand acres in three hours because of the fuel buildup in that National (8:43) Forest alone. (8:44) I have visited with our good workers, our good Forest Service employees.

(8:49) They want more flexibility. (8:51) They need more flexibility to properly manage these resources. (8:54) If I were successful at repealing the roadless rule, you want to know what would happen? (8:58) All of the forest management plans that govern the management of these areas would actually (9:03) just go into effect.

(9:04) So if you look at a forest management plan, if you look at a land use plan, what you’ll (9:08) see is there’s an entire section dedicated to roadless areas, an entire section dedicated (9:14) to grazing, an entire section dedicated to mineral development, et cetera, et cetera, (9:18) et cetera. (9:19) That’s what they do. (9:20) They identify all of the various uses within the National Forest, which is what Congress (9:24) set this up, that this would be done on a forest-by-forest basis.

(9:28) So there’s a lot of, I would say, misinformation out there that if the roadless rule goes away, (9:34) we’re going to be building roads everywhere. (9:35) That’s absolutely not the case. (9:37) It’ll just be managed at the local level with the local National Forest Service people with (9:44) the most expertise making the decisions along with the local community.

(9:49) So you cannot talk about forest management and preparedness and how do we protect our (9:55) resources without talking about what to do about the roadless rule. (9:59) It has truly been devastating. (10:01) Congresswoman, it just so happens that today Wyoming State Forester Kelly Norris is going (10:05) to be in Lincoln County meeting with the Starbody and Fossil Basin Chambers of Commerce (10:10) today.

(10:10) How closely do you work with Forester Norris at the state level on something like roadless (10:16) rule and forest management? (10:18) I haven’t, I have not worked with the state for this State Forester as much as I probably (10:23) should. (10:24) You actually make a very good point. (10:26) We do a good job of managing our National Forest in Wyoming.

(10:30) We have had some phenomenal employees and leaders in that particular department. (10:36) And one of the things that is interesting is if you look, you can Google this, you can (10:40) look at how National Forest Service lands are managed and you can actually see if they’re (10:47) contiguous to a state section or private land, you can see that the state section and the (10:53) private land is typically in much better shape than the National Forest Service lands. (10:59) They have over an $11 billion backlog just for maintenance in the National Forest.

(11:05) Last night, we had a forum here in Casper and people are talking about affordability (11:09) and housing. (11:11) Well, we’re importing most of our lumber from Canada because we don’t actually manage (11:16) our National Forest anymore. (11:18) Our National Forests were created to provide a continuous supply of timber and a continuous (11:22) supply of water.

(11:23) They are to be managed as a commodity. (11:25) That’s why they were put within the Department of Agriculture, not the Department of Interior. (11:30) Yet, since the roadless rule was adopted, we essentially have been shut out of our (11:35) National Forest Service lands and we have all suffered the consequences.

(11:39) Congresswoman Harriet Hageman this morning on the Weekday Wake-Up. (11:41) Representative, as always, thank you so much for your time. (11:44) Anything else you’d like to bring up today while we have you? (11:47) Well, I’ve just been looking forward to getting back to western Wyoming and I hope, (11:52) I know that we’re all praying for rain.

(11:54) We’re all praying that this weather pattern starts to break. (11:57) It’s great to be back in Wyoming and again, I can’t wait to get back over there and (12:02) start engaging with the folks over there again. (12:05) U.S. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman this morning.

(12:07) It’s all part of the Weekday Wake-Up on SVI Radio.