On August 22, 2013, U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo) and the Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Doc Hastings (R-Wash), announced that the Congressional Endangered Species Act (ESA) Working Group will be holding field hearings in Casper, Wyoming and Billings, Montana to find ways to improve the ESA for both species and people. The hearings, entitled “State and Local Efforts to Protect Species, Jobs, Property and Multiple Use Amidst a New War on the West,” will focus on efforts to preserve wildlife while maintaining jobs in agriculture, energy, and recreation.

As we previously reported, House Republicans created the ESA Working Group to examine the ESA through a series of events, forums, and hearings to invite discussion and input on ways in which the ESA is working well, and where it can be updated or improved. The first of these efforts kicked off in June 2013.

The first of the two-part field hearings will take place in Casper, Wyoming on Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. MDT at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The second will be held the same day at 1:30 p.m. MDT at Cisel Hall (MSU-Billings).