Committee clears 11 bipartisan bills by unanimous consent including land transfers, research, fee‑free park day
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Summary
By unanimous consent the committee advanced 11 bills — a mix of local land transfers to tribes, research institute authorization, program reauthorizations, and a fee‑free national parks day — and approved related amendments agreed by the minority.
The House Committee on Natural Resources agreed by unanimous consent to report out a package of 11 largely bipartisan bills that the majority and ranking minority worked out in advance. Committee leaders announced the package toward the end of the markup and asked unanimous consent to report the bills favorably with the amendments that had been filed and agreed to.
The unanimous‑consent package included:
- H.R. 42 85 (STARS Act / Semiquincentennial Tourism and Access to Recreation Sites Act) — establishes a fee‑free national parks day to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and, in committee form, was amended to expand fee waivers to certain national forests and Bureau of Land Management lands. (Sponsor: Representative Malloy/Stauber amendment adopted)
- H.R. 10 45 — Utah Wildfire Research Institute Act (creates a wildfire research institute at Utah State University; sponsor: Representative from Utah).
- H.R. 2,302 and H.R. 2,400 — land transfer bills to place small parcels into tribal trust for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Pit River Tribe, respectively (subcommittee referrals; substitute amendments accepted).
- H.R. 36 20 — land conveyance to the South Central Foundation in Anchorage for a behavioral health facility (subcommittee amendment accepted).
- H.R. 22 94 and H.R. 38 57 — reauthorizations for the Integrated Ocean Observing System and Snow Water Supply Forecasting programs (amendments in the nature of a substitute agreed where noted).
- H.R. 3 45, H.R. 5 28, H.R. 12 76 — additional bills addressing wildfire assistance, reforestation, and removal of outdated deed restrictions; where applicable, the committee accepted amendments in the nature of a substitute offered by the chair or others.
Committee members from both parties praised the package’s local and practical items: tribal land transfers, research capacity expansion, coastal observation and water forecasting reauthorizations, and measures to support wildfire response and post‑disaster reforestation. Representative Stauber and others emphasized tourism and local economic benefits from a fee‑free national parks day. The committee reported the listed bills favorably to the House by unanimous consent; the committee’s unanimous‑consent text and agreed amendments were entered into the record.
Procedurally, the chair asked unanimous consent that relevant subcommittees be discharged and that staff be permitted to make technical conforming edits to the texts. No recorded roll‑call votes were required for the unanimous‑consent package.
