	Natural Resources: The Policy Setting

Natural resource management remains a significant issue for the federal government, and the availability of particular natural resources, such as energy resources, can be matters of broad public concern. Growing demands and pressures for both resources and services from the nation's resources, plus heightened interest in how these resources are used, have increased the complexity of their management and administration. The federal role in natural resource management continues to be controversial. Some stakeholders seek to maintain or enhance the federal role in resource management. Common themes include how to balance the tensions in multi-use management and protection programs, whether resources should be managed to produce national or local benefits, and how to balance current uses with future supplies and opportunities. While specific management concerns are constantly in flux, many of the concerns fall under the same categories that have confronted policy-makers for decades:
role of the federal government in establishing policies; interagency conflicts and overlaps; sources and levels of funding; information and role of science; and coordination of federal, state, and local efforts. Although these categories of issues are fairly constant and broader questions of resource goals and management objectives remain, Congress for many reasons typically confronts the resource issues based on the natural resource in question—lands and related resources, oceans and coasts, species and ecosystems, or water. Multiple use management is an approach to balancing use conflicts that can occur on federal lands. For example, science is instrumental in defining the uncertainty and potential extent and impact of climate change and weather on resource stocks and conditions. Natural resources management often is intertwined with issues in other policy areas. The 31 issues have been grouped into five categories, as follows:
Federal and Indian Lands and Resources Natural Hazards, Climate, and Earth Science Ocean and Coastal Affairs Species Management and Ecosystem Protection Water Resources

		Federal and Indian Lands and Resources

			Conceptual Framework

The federal government manages about 650 million acres of land and resources—about 29% of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States. Other policy questions for federal lands funding relate to setting fees. Indian land issues include energy rights-of-way across tribal lands, especially the compensation sought by Indian tribes. There has been increasing support for the use of marine protected areas (MPAs) to protect and manage ocean resources. Regional issues regarding endangered and threatened species, invasive species, and ecosystem restoration initiatives, as well as national issues, such as wetlands protection and agricultural conservation, also may be considered. The 110 th Congress may conduct oversight on the implementation of ESA as it relates to the listing and protection of foreign threatened and endangered species. Some center on the effects of private land uses on natural resources, especially on agricultural lands in rural areas. Dams and Levees

Recent disasters have brought attention to the safety and security of the nation's water resources infrastructure, including its dams and levees.
Natural resources management remains a significant issue for the federal government. Growing demands on the nation's resources and interest in their protection and allocation among multiple uses have increased the complexity of management. The federal role in defining policy and institutional context shapes the combination of supported uses and protection measures.
Certain themes are common to federal resource issues. Many conflicts center on balancing traditional versus alternative uses and protection programs, managing to produce national or local benefits, and supporting current or future resource consumption. Other challenges involve the effect of federal resource management on private lands, fees for using federal resources, and financing of management efforts. Interagency conflicts and overlaps and the coordination of federal, state, and local efforts also are common implementation problems.
For many reasons, Congress often confronts resource issues based on the natural resource in question—lands and related resources, oceans and coasts, species and ecosystems, or water. Federal land issues include land ownership and management, prioritization of uses, designation of special areas, and fee collection and disbursement. Energy production and recreation on federal lands remain controversial. Indian land issues include energy rights-of-way across tribal lands and treaty rights. Ocean topics encompass broad policy questions, such as whether to respond to recommendations by two commissions for more coordinated ocean policies and institutions. More specific multi-use management challenges range from fisheries, marine mammal, and coastal zone management, to adherence to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. Species management and ecosystem protection topics include federal protection and habitat designations for threatened and endangered species, prevention and response to invasive species, protection of international species, wetlands protection, and large-scale ecosystem restoration. Increased competition for water has fostered interest in the federal role in water resources, particularly in relation to water supply in western states and multi-use river management. Other water topics are dam and levee safety and security, and transboundary water resources management.
Natural resource science and management contributes to understanding and mitigating the nation's natural hazard risks. Science also is instrumental in defining the uncertainty and potential extent and impact of climate change and weather on resource conditions.
Often natural resource management is intertwined with other topics of broad public concern, such as environmental protection, energy, and agricultural policy. The 110th Congress may pursue natural resources topics in the context of these other policy areas as well as through authorizations, appropriations, and oversight related to specific natural resources issues.